The Bouba/Kiki Effect

Here's a little thought experiment: You're at a luxury store and the sales associates, like always, are a bit too vague. They lead you into a room and give you two designer bags to check out: The "Bouba" or the "Kiki".

Which one would you choose, and why?

Maybe you imagined the "Bouba" bag as soft and wave-like. Maybe you saw the "Kiki" as sharper, sleeker, or more angular.

If so, researchers would agree with you.

This idea comes from the bouba/kiki effect, a well-documented phenomenon with major implications. The effect finds that certain characteristics of letters evoke different shapes and imagery.

The Study

When naming the following shapes, 95% of participants called the left “Kiki” and the right “Bouba.”

Psychologists Ramachandran and Hubbard (2001) argued that pattern stems from the physical feel of the words: “kiki” has sharp sounds, while "bouba" has a softer and rounder pronunciation. More recent studies have found that this effect extends beyond sounds: rounder letters including “o”, “u” and “b,” have associations to rounder shapes, and letters with more acute angles like “k” and “i” have sharper connotations.

A Contradiction?

But not all researchers agree on what causes this effect and the specific impact of orthography (writing systems) and phonetic (sound) characteristics remains highly contested. There are correlations between the roundness and spikiness across different linguistic features and a 2015 University of Edinburgh study found that, for literate people, letter shapes may have a more profound impact on this effect than the sounds they make themselves. This means that the associations of "bouba" and "kiki" may be because of how they appear on paper, not their pronunciations.

What does this mean for business?

Businesses, deliberately or not, tend to follow the bouba/kiki effect.

Think about Oreo's round orthography and sound corresponding to its sweet, round shape. On the other hand, Kodak's sharp, snappy characteristics are perfect for a camera.

This type of branding can elevate brand coherence and memorability.

But globally-minded businesses have more things to consider. Although big businesses like Samsung, Coca-Cola, and Apple can rely on their logos, less recognizable brands may adapt their names to local orthography.

This is where the bouba-kiki effect remains important. When expanding internationally, transliterations may change the feel of the brand's name.

But this probably only applies to businesses looking to transcend different writing systems. For example, US businesses may not have to worry when entering Spanish markets because they both use the Latin alphabet. These businesses, however, may have to do more research on consumer reactions if they write their name in Hangul, the orthography of Korean.

So, for highly successful businesses looking abroad, research investment into how brand names appear in foreign languages may just set them apart.