Corporate Names and Performance Cover Image

Názvy společností a jejich vliv na výkonnost firem
Corporate Names and Performance

Author(s): Jan Hanousek, Štěpán Jurajda
Subject(s): Politics / Political Sciences, Social Sciences, Economy
Published by: Vysoká škola ekonomická v Praze
Keywords: brand name; onomastics; order effects; alphabetical sorting

Summary/Abstract: We provide systematic evidence of the effect of alphabetical sorting on corporate performance based on over a decade of data covering seventeen EU countries in three European language families. We also measure the effects of using English words in a corporate name in a non-Englishspeaking country, of a corporate name containing a ‘national‘ (patriotic) word, and of simple linguistic properties highlighted in the brand-name marketing literature. Using multiple measures of corporate performance, we find companies sorted low in the alphabet to be less successful in several European countries, particularly in services. ‘National‘ words are associated with substantially higher sales growth in, e.g., Poland, Norway, France and Spain, while the use of English words in company names curbs (fosters) sales growth in Romance- (Slavic-) language countries.

  • Issue Year: 66/2018
  • Issue No: 6
  • Page Range: 671-688
  • Page Count: 18
  • Language: Czech