Key takeaways:

• Overall, consumers are slightly more drawn to pragmatic names
• 47% of consumers are drawn to pragmatic names, vs 41% towards edgy names
• Young consumers buck the trend: 19% are strongly drawn to edgy names vs. 14% to pragmatic names
• Older consumers significantly prefer pragmatic names: 9% are strongly drawn, vs. 3%

Objective: There are many factors to consider when choosing a brand name, and one is whether to lean towards pragmatic names that express value propositions, or edgy names centred on brand positioning. This choice impacts the first impression of your brand: to help founders and businesses make informed choices, we asked a panel of American consumers which style they’re drawn to.

Question:

When thinking of your first encounter with a brand, how much are you drawn to brands with the following brand-name styles?

Name types surveyed:

• Pragmatic names centred on values (e.g., FinancialLogic, SpeedNotion)
• Edgy names centred on positioning (e.g., SalesZap, BoltBoost)

Responses:

• Strongly drawn to this type of brand
• Moderately drawn to this type of brand
• Neither drawn to nor put off by this type of brand
• Moderately averse to this type of brand
• Strongly averse to this type of brand

Audience:

A representative panel of American consumers aged 18 – 64.

Overall Results

• Consumers are more drawn to pragmatic names on first encounters
• 47% of consumers are drawn to pragmatic names, vs 41% towards edgy names.

When thinking of your first encounter with a brand, how much are you drawn to brands with the following brand-name styles?

Gender Breakdown

• Men are slightly more drawn to pragmatic names
• Women show no preference on the appeal of edgy vs. pragmatic names

Men

When thinking of your first encounter with a brand, how much are you drawn to brands with the following brand-name styles?

Women

When thinking of your first encounter with a brand, how much are you drawn to brands with the following brand-name styles?

Age Breakdown

• Younger consumers are more strongly drawn to edgy names: 19% vs 14%
• Older consumers significantly prefer pragmatic names: 9% are strongly drawn, vs. 3%.

18 – 34

When thinking of your first encounter with a brand, how much are you drawn to brands with the following brand-name styles?

35 – 54

When thinking of your first encounter with a brand, how much are you drawn to brands with the following brand-name styles?

55 – 64

When thinking of your first encounter with a brand, how much are you drawn to brands with the following brand-name styles?

Conclusion

Overall, consumers are slightly more drawn to pragmatic names over edgy ones, but when we dig into the demographics, the decision takes on more importance for brands. Older consumers significantly prefer pragmatic names, while edgy names make more of an impact on younger consumers. Brands should choose names that fit who they are, who they want to become, and who they want to appeal to. This research can guide that choice.

If you’re interested in digging deeper into our findings, or asking your own questions on domain choice and branding topics, contact thom@atomradar.com to learn more.

Further Reading

• Key Naming Insights Every New Brand Needs: Latest Data and Research
• What’s in a Word? Credibility of Single-Word Domain Names for Brands
• Brand Domain Choice: Consumers Favor Compound Names Over Invented Words

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About The Author

Thom Davies

Thom is lead researcher at AtomRadar and content strategist for Atom.com.

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