Is it the ‘alpha’ or the ‘numeric’?: Consumers’ evaluation of letter versus number changes in alphanumeric brand names

BACKGROUND Methylphenidate, a stimulant used to treat attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), has the potential for nonmedical uses such as study and recreation. In the era of active use of social networking services (SNSs), experience with the nonmedical use or side effects of methylphenidate might be shared on Twitter. OBJECTIVE To analyze monthly tweets about methylphenidate, its nonmedical use and side effects, and user sentiments about methylphenidate. METHODS Tweets mentioning methylphenidate from August 2018 to July 2019 were collected using search terms for methylphenidate and its brand names. Only tweets written in English were included. The monthly number of tweets about methylphenidate and the number of tweets containing keywords related to the nonmedical use and side effects of methylphenidate were analyzed. Precision was calculated as the number of true nonmedical use or side effects divided by the number of tweets containing each keywords. Sentiment analysis was conducted using the text and emoji in tweets, and tweets were categorized as very negative (less than -3), negative (-3 to -1), neutral (0), positive (1 to 3), or very positive (more than 3), depending on the sentiment score. RESULTS A total of 4,169 tweets were ultimately selected for analysis. The number of tweets per month was lowest in August (n=264) and highest in May (n=435). There were 292 (7.0%) tweets about nonmedical uses of methylphenidate. Among those, 200 (4.8%) described use for studying, and 15 (0.4%) described use for recreation. In 91 (2.2%) tweets, snorting methylphenidate was mentioned. Side effects of methylphenidate, mainly poor appetite (n=74, 1.8%) and insomnia (n=54, 1.3%), were reported in 316 (7.6%) tweets. The average sentiment score was 0.027 ± 1.475, and neutral tweets were the most abundant (n=1,593, 38.2%). CONCLUSIONS Tweets about methylphenidate were most abundant in May, mentioned nonmedical use for study or recreation, and contained information about side effects. Analysis of Twitter has the advantage of saving the cost and time needed to conduct a survey, and could help identify nonmedical uses and side effects of drugs.

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EXPRESS: Is Nestlé a Lady? The Feminine Brand Name Advantage

Journal of Marketing ◽

10.1177/0022242921993060 ◽

2021 ◽

pp. 002224292199306

Author(s):

Ruth Pogacar ◽

Justin Angle ◽

Tina M. Lowrey ◽

L. J. Shrum ◽

Frank R. Kardes

Keyword(s):

Boundary Conditions ◽

Brand Names ◽

Brand Name ◽

Brand Performance ◽

The Feminine ◽

And Performance ◽

Typical User

A brand name’s linguistic characteristics convey brand qualities independent of the name’s denotative meaning. For instance, name length, sounds, and stress can signal masculine or feminine associations. This research examines the effects of such gender associations on three important brand outcomes: attitudes, choice, and performance. Across six studies using both observational analyses of real brands and experimental manipulations of invented brands the authors show that linguistically feminine names increase perceived warmth, which improves brand outcomes. Feminine brand names enhance attitudes and choice share–both hypothetically and consequentially–and are associated with better brand performance. The authors establish boundary conditions, showing that the feminine brand name advantage is attenuated when the typical user is male and when products are utilitarian.

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Chinese Service Multinationals: The Degree of Internationalization and Performance

Management International Review ◽

10.1007/s11575-020-00434-7 ◽

2021 ◽

Author(s):

Ziyi Wei ◽

Quyen T. K. Nguyen

Keyword(s):

Financial Performance ◽

Multinational Enterprises ◽

Home Country ◽

Academic Research ◽

Brand Names ◽

Theoretical Development ◽

Superior Performance ◽

Foreign Firms ◽

Service Firms ◽

Degree Of Internationalization

AbstractWe investigate the degree of internationalization of Chinese service multinational enterprises (MNEs) and their performance relative to global peers operating in the same industries, using the benchmarking method with the industry financial data. Our theoretical development is based upon Verbeke and Forootan (2012)’s framework, grounded in “new” internalization theory, arguing that an MNE’s financial performance is fundamentally determined by its firm-specific advantages (FSAs). Here FSAs include not only conventional strengths in R&D and brand names, but also the recombination capabilities, which is a higher-order FSA. We theorize that Chinese service MNEs develop FSAs, which are built upon home country-specific advantages (CSAs) and thus their FSAs are home country-bound in nature. They have not yet been able to develop advanced management capabilities through recombination with host CSAs. We empirically examine the largest 500 Chinese service firms. We find that only 23 Chinese service firms are true MNEs, whereas the majority of them are purely domestic firms. The financial performance of Chinese service MNEs is poor relative to global peers. They internationalize mainly through acquisitions of foreign firms, which help them increase their foreign sales, but they are not able to achieve superior performance in overseas operations. We discuss the strategic implications of our findings for managers, public policy makers, and academic research.

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Lantox—The Chinese Botulinum Toxin Drug—Complete English Bibliography and Comprehensive Formalised Literature Review

Toxins ◽

10.3390/toxins13060370 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 13 (6) ◽

pp. 370

Author(s):

Dirk Dressler ◽

Lizhen Pan ◽

Junhui Su ◽

Fei Teng ◽

Lingjing Jin

Keyword(s):

Literature Review ◽

Observational Studies ◽

Similar Efficacy ◽

Conversion Ratio ◽

Brand Names ◽

Efficacy And Safety ◽

Paper Citation ◽

Safety Features ◽

Randomised Controlled ◽

Nose And Throat

In 1997, lanbotulinumtoxinA (LAN) was introduced in China. It is now available in Asia, Latin America and Eastern Europe under various brand names including Hengli®, Lantox®, Prosigne®, Lanzox®, Redux®, Liftox®, HBTX-A and CBTX-A. The literature on LAN is mostly published in Chinese language, restricting its international accessibility. We, therefore, wanted to generate a complete English bibliography of all LAN publications and then use it for a comprehensive formalised literature review. Altogether, 379 LAN publications (322 in Chinese and 57 in English) were retrieved from PubMed and Science and Technology Paper Citation Database. Indications covered are motor (257), glandular (16), pain (32) and aesthetics (48). Topics are neurological (250), aesthetic (48), paediatric (38), ophthalmological (18), urological (9), methodological (6), gastroenterological (5), ear, nose and throat (4) and surgical (1). Seventy-one publications are randomised controlled trials, forty-one publications are interventional studies and observational studies, fifteen publications are case studies, eighteen publications are reviews, and two publications are guidelines. LAN publications cover all relevant topics of BT therapy throughout a period of more than 20 years. This constitutes a publication basis resembling those of other BT drugs. None of the LAN publications presents data contradictory to those generated with other BT type-A drugs. LAN seems to have a similar efficacy and safety features when compared to onabotulinumtoxinA using a 1:1 LAN– onabotulinumtoxinA conversion ratio. Large controlled multicentre studies will become necessary for LAN’s registrations in Europe and North America.

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