Whether it’s for a multinational brokerage or just the header on a business blog, a logo should convey a mission statement.
But not all logos are created equal. New research published in the Journal of Consumer Research indicates that something as basic as overall shape can have a significant impact on the way consumers perceive a brand.
When people looked at ads with circular logos, researches found that they that perceived the products advertised to be more comfortable. When the same products were displayed alongside angular logos, the products were seen as more durable. Consistency turned out to be important, too: When an ad headline about durability was paired with a circular logo, the logo shape effect wasn’t effective.
But logos appear to affect consumers’ feelings about more than simply products, according to the study. Researchers also found that study participants who looked at a circular logo first were more likely to predict that a company would be sensitive and understanding about a particular customer’s needs.
“We need to worry about what we’re saying to consumers verbally, versus what we’re signaling accidentally or deliberately through other kinds of cues,” says Amitava Chattopadhyay, one of the researchers and a professor of corporate innovation. “When companies are designing their logos, they should be thoughtful about making these associations fit with the associations they want for their brand.”
Source: “Why the Shape of a Company’s Logo Matters,” Fast Company (Feb. 1, 2016)
© Copyright 2016 INFORMATION, INC. Bethesda, MD (301) 215-4688