Brand Naming in China: Sociolinguistic Implications

Applying brand names to international markets remains a challenge to multinational corporations. Consumers’ sociolinguistic backgrounds shape their responses to brand names. This paper uses a sociolinguistic approach as a conceptual framework in understanding brand naming and translating in the Chinese market. The approach promotes that sociolinguistics a recognizes linguistic competence, b advances symbolic values imbedded in linguistic forms, and c renders attached social valence to cultural scrutiny. Three brand-naming cases in China are presented for discussion, which may benefit multinational corporations on brand decisions involving Chinese consumers.