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Different sounds are associated with distinct perceptions of value. Designers discussing options with clients or naming places or objects need to consider these associations, as the literature review by Coulter and Coulter indicates. Long a, e, and i vowel sounds as well as the sounds of “f,” “z,” and “s” (all sound references relate to English), bring small size to mind, while vowel sounds like those in “goose” and “foot” leave the opposite impression. The vowel sounds associated with largeness are called “back vowels.”
Keith Coulter and Robin Coulter. “Small Sounds, Big Deals: Phonetic Symbolism Effects in Pricing.” Journal of Consumer Research, in press.
