Fictitious

Tumblr, Lyft, Phat Buddha, Tripp: “Creatively” spelled names aren’t new, but they’ve proliferated in recent years. New research explores their effectiveness for new-to-market brands. In the first of eight studies, the researchers offered free samples of seltzer on a U.S. university campus. Passersby could choose from two fictitious brands: Deep and Clear—or “Klear,” as it was rendered half the time. They were 14 percentage points less likely to choose the second when the display used the unconventional spelling.