The presentation of brand personality in English-Chinese brand name translation

Abstract

The brand name is an important asset of a business, for consumers rely on brand names to identify goods for purchase. English-Chinese brand name translation is of significance as it influences how a brand is received in China, which has become one of the largest consumer markets in the world. Brand names often cause consumers’ emotional response to enhance their memory, establish positive images about the brands, and serve the purpose of promotion. This paper discusses the issue of emotional involvement in English-Chinese brand name translation via discourse analysis and exploration of the presentation of brand personality in translation. The causes for and types of emotional involvement are investigated with reference to studies on brand personality which can invoke consumers’ emotional response and play a key role in enhancing consumers’ loyalty to and trust of a brand, and a revised framework of brand personality for Chinese brand name translations is provided on the basis of current research on English and Chinese brand personality, as well as analysis and classification of the brands in our corpus. The examples in our corpus are analyzed according to this framework, and the features of emotional involvement in the Chinese translations are summarized and discussed.