Exploring the effect of incidental priming when measuring trademark genericism

Because trademarks are among a company’s most valuable assets, disputes arise as to whether a particular word or term is a registered trademark, is capable of becoming a registered trademark, or is simply a generic term, one that anyone can use. The present research explored the possible effect of incidental priming when measuring trademark genericism using a popular survey approach. Four case studies were examined, and two online experiments were conducted to investigate the extent to which placeholder terms immediately preceding a target term can prime or influence categorization of that target term as a brand name or common name. The results of the case studies and experiments revealed that priming can have a significant but nuanced influence on perceptions of terms as brand names or common names.