Spark Nicknames in the Name of Love

In year 2011, it was not unusual to hear somebody refer to Target Stores as “tar gay,” as if with a French accent, inspired by the retailer’s aspirational claim to a high fashion reputation. In my hometown of Vacaville, California is a locally-owned café named Pure Grain Bakery. My wife and her friends never call it that. They abbreviate it to PG, even though in their earlier years, friends reserved that letter pair for other friends who were with child and in more recent years, for movies they might not want to view with children. Business Insider has compiled a list of nicknames for McDonald’s across ten countries, from Mickey D’s in the U.S. to Mak Kee in Hong Kong.
     Bestowing nicknames on businesses is usually a sign of customer affection, and customer affection is good for business. Researchers at University of North Dakota, University of Minnesota, and University of St. Thomas find this applies to products as well as stores. Purchase intentions increased and persisted when consumers were encouraged to nickname items. Creating the nickname requires an investment of time and thinking plus gives a sense of personalizing. All this produces a feeling of ownership which people fulfill with actually buying the item.
     To build a sense of companionship with your store or with a product you sell, you could give a nickname, such as McDonald’s did with their flagship Big Mac. If you choose this route, select one that fits a predominant characteristic of the retailer or item. In the research, the assigned name Muggy produced higher purchase intentions than did Bob for a mug. Blue worked better for a blue stapler than did Steve.
     Better, though, is to have the shoppers and customers christen the prospective possessions. When naming our children or pets, the highest feelings of bonding come with choices fitting our cultural and family history as well as our heartfelt wishes for the child or pet. We’d presume the same for other types of naming.
     The profitability drive of self-selected nicknames often goes beyond the initial purchase. Arizona State University and Texas Christian University studies described people who called their cars by pet names and purchased guns in what the purchasers later described as a moment of passion. Those consumers subsequently spent six times more for accessories, on average, than did those not evidencing the sorts of involvement and intimacy signaled by chosen nicknames.

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