---
title: "Names Matter - or, how to increase profits by choosing the right product name"
date: 2017-08-16T01:00:00-06:00
author: Nourish
canonical_url: "https://www.nourish.marketing/news/names-matter-or-how-to"
section: News
---
What's in a name? If you're in the consumer goods field, the answer is: quite a lot. How you name and label your product directly impacts consumer perception. Packaging and labels are often the first point of contact between your product and a potential buyer, and what's written there can make or break a purchase decision.

For a compelling case study on the power of product names, look no further than the organic wine industry. Organic products of all kinds command strong demand among health-conscious consumers, and many carry premium prices — which shoppers generally accept, understanding there are higher production costs involved.

It seems, however, that no one explained this to wine buyers. A study conducted by the University of Florida's [Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences](http://ifas.ufl.edu/) tracked sales of more than 400 premium wines produced by 50 Tuscan wineries between 2000 and 2008. The findings were counterintuitive: organic wines consistently fetched lower prices than their non-organic counterparts.

The reason? Consumers were perfectly willing to pay a premium for wines that were organically produced but not labeled as such. Bottles clearly marked "organic," however, underperformed — both in sales volume and in the price they commanded — compared to unlabeled organic wines and conventional premium wines alike.

The organic label, it turned out, carried an unintended stigma in the wine market. Some producers believe the term evokes associations that actively alienate wine connoisseurs. It's a striking example of how the perception of quality can override the reality of it — and a compelling argument for deeply understanding your target consumer before you commit to how you label your product.

Further evidence of naming's influence on sales comes from a [study conducted at Stanford University](https://news.stanford.edu/stories/2017/06/decadent-sounding-labeling-may-lead-people-eat-vegetables). Researchers tracked vegetable sales in a university cafeteria, giving the same dishes different names drawn from four categories each day: basic, healthy restrictive, healthy positive, and indulgent.

A basic label was simply "carrots." A healthy restrictive label told patrons what they weren't getting: "carrots with sugar-free citrus dressing." A healthy positive label emphasized nutritional benefits: "smart-choice vitamin C citrus carrots." And an indulgent label gave the dish a more sensory, evocative name: "twisted citrus-glazed carrots."

The indulgent labels won — by a significant margin. They resulted in a 25% higher selection rate than basic labels, 35% higher than healthy positive labels, and 41% higher than healthy restrictive labels. The study confirms what marketers have long suspected: food labelling plays a major role in shaping perceptions of flavour and quality, and ultimately, whether someone picks it up at all.

The lesson for food and beverage brands is straightforward but often overlooked. A name isn't just a descriptor — it's a signal. It tells consumers whether your product is for them, how it will taste, how it will make them feel, and whether it belongs on their table. Getting that signal right is one of the highest-leverage decisions you can make before your product ever hits a shelf.

If you're working on a new product launch or reconsidering how your current lineup is named and positioned, we'd love to help you find the right words. Get in touch.