An Analysis of the Syntactic Complexity in Service Corporation Brand Slogans

Abstract

Research indicates that compared with syntactically simple slogans, moderately complex slogans stimulate deeper processing improving brand recall and interpretation. This may be particularly useful for services marketers in the design of brand slogans for managing the mental intangibility of their offerings. This study involved an analysis of syntactic complexity of contemporary service company brand slogans used by companies listed in the 2011 Fortune 500. Despite the potential benefits of moderately complex slogans, results indicate that most service slogans are simple, containing no syntactic transformations. Few instances of most types of transformations were found except for the imperative form.

KEYWORDS:

• brands
• slogans
• services
• intangibility
• syntactic complexity
• positioning