Let’s play a game. You tell me which headline you’d click first:
- “A Simple Guide to Selling Better”
- “The Persuasive Power of P’s: Pitch, Products, and Purchase”
If you chose the second, congratulations—you’ve just been alliterated.
And you loved it.
🎯 Alliteration Isn’t Cute. It’s Tactical.
Alliteration—where words begin with the same sound—feels poetic.
But what it really is… is power.
It makes slogans sing, headlines hook, and brands burn into memory.
It’s a neurological cheat code disguised as charm.
📚 Why It Works (With Evidence, Not Just Eloquence)
- 🧠 Stickier Memory
A 2008 study found alliterative phrases were remembered 80% more often than non-alliterative ones. That’s not a quirk—it’s cognitive compression. Repeated sounds create a rhythm the brain can loop. - 🗣 Fluent = Believable
People trust things that are easy to say. That’s “processing fluency”—and it means a phrase like “Woes unite foes”feels truer than “Woes unite enemies”. Same meaning. Different trust level. - 🛍 Brand Recall Rocket Fuel
Companies like Dunkin’ Donuts, PayPal, and Coca-Cola didn’t choose names at random. Repeating consonants carve deeper grooves into memory. You remember them not because they’re better—but because they sound better. - 🧪 Even Justice Uses It
“If it doesn’t fit, you must acquit.” That wasn’t logic—it was linguistic strategy. A rhyme and a rhythm that bypassed debate and burrowed into public memory.
🔍 Case File: Crafting Credibility with Consonants
You’re pitching a new snack company. Option A:
“We’re a low-carb, high-protein food startup.”
Option B:
“We’re a Crunchy, Clean, Conscious snacking company.”
Option B wins. Every time. Not because it’s more true—but because it’s more fluent.
Three C’s make it feel cohesive, clever, crafted.
🚨 Use With Precision
Alliteration is a scalpel, not a sledgehammer.
“Focused founders fueling frictionless food funds”
That’s not messaging. That’s madness.
Done right, alliteration gives your message edge and elegance. Done poorly, it’s a cartoonish jingle wearing a marketing suit.
🪞The Bigger Game: Why Our Brains Fall for It
Alliteration is more than memory.
It taps into something deeper—our pattern-seeking nature, our love of rhythm, our bias for things that feel deliberate.
People believe what flows.
They trust what feels smooth.
They act on what sounds right.
This isn’t poetry. It’s perception management.
📢 LinkedIn Newsletter Description
Why Alliteration Hacks Your Brain (And How to Use It Without Sounding Like a Cartoon)
From “PayPal” to “Reduce, Reuse, Recycle,” the power of repeating consonants is anything but child’s play. Learn how this linguistic sleight-of-hand makes messages stick, stories sell, and slogans succeed.
#BehavioralDesign #MarketingPsychology #Alliteration #CopywritingTips #NeuroLinguistics
🎧 The Deductionists Podcast
🎙 Listen to the full breakdown on The Deductionists Podcast
→ Spotify
→ Apple
→ YouTube
🔍 Image Prompt for LinkedIn & WordPress
A playful, noir-inspired chalkboard with a detective’s notes written in looping, alliterative phrases like “Power. Persuasion. Perception.” An oversized magnifying glass highlights a circled phrase. Moody lighting. Vintage typography. Clever design, not cartoonish. Black, white, and a splash of red.
Check out the Deep Thoughts and Whatnots podcast for the audio version—complete with expanded humor 😏—on Spotify or Apple Podcasts.