Making sense of numbers: Effects of alphanumeric brands on consumer inference

This research examines when and how the presence of seemingly innocuous, non-diagnostic numbers in brand names (e.g., 7-UP) impacts consumers' judgments. Building on anchoring theory, our central proposition is that numbers contained in alphanumeric brand names can act as implicit anchors that subsequently bias (either upward or downward) consumers' assessment of a product's price, weight, volume, etc. We qualify this proposition, however, by showing that such anchoring effects occur primarily when (a) the numeric component of a name appears relevant to the judgment at hand and (b) consumers evaluate product attributes superficially (rather than systematically).