Lawyers with easy-to-pronounce names climb higher at firms
Companies with pronounceable stock symbols have also been found to outperform awkward ones.
Veritasium · The Illusion of TruthLawyers with easy-to-pronounce last names are more likely to end up higher up their firms.
The pattern held after controlling for how rare the names were and for ethnicity. Companies with pronounceable ticker abbreviations, the short codes used to buy and sell shares, have also been found to outperform companies with unpronounceable ones.
The idea offered to explain patterns like the lawyer and stock findings is what psychologists call cognitive ease, a sense of how hard the brain is working. Studies have shown that people tend to favor the clearer-looking version, in bold, clear, high-contrast text, because it takes less effort to read. In these studies, people judge easier-to-process information as more true.
Questions people ask
Is this just bias against immigrants or minorities?
The finding may reflect pronounceability, though it can't rule out other biases. Sorting that out fully would take more evidence than these results alone provide.
Should I buy stocks with catchy tickers?
The study found pronounceable tags went with better results. It does not recommend buying them or explain why any individual company performed as it did.
How do I avoid falling for this?
It can help to pause and check the evidence when a claim feels true at first glance. Ask whether you have seen support for it, or whether it is simply clear and familiar.