The role of associative potential in creation and interpretation of trademarks’ names processes

The subject of trademark associative potential is considered. The study is conducted on the material of English, Russian and French. All the hypotheses are exemplified by trademark names of perfumery, cosmetics and household chemistry. The main aim is to draw attention to the presence of a certain component that is linked to personal associations of a naming specialist and an interpreter of a trademark name in the semantic structure of such onyms. These associations occur when a person interacts with a product and then become a part of meaning of its name. The question is investigated from two angles, i. e. the perspective of a naming specialist and the perspective of an interpreter of a trademark name. In order to inquire into the matter such methods as contextual analysis, analysis of definitions and content analysis were used. The specific character of the latter in relation to the analyzed linguistic material is described in detail in a separate section. The conclusion includes the results of the conducted research. In brief, they are these: there is direct interdependence between the scope of associative potential of a trademark name and ways of interpretation of this onym by the prospective consumers of a named product. Thus, the deeper the associative connection between a product name and characteristics of the named item is, the easier it is for a prospective customer to understand and interpret the onym.

trademark name, associative potential, naming specialist, interpreter, content analysis