The impact of personality and design on consumer responses to logos

Logo design is a critical element in building consumers’ perceptions of a brand because it can evoke strong associations (Aaker, 1991; Schmitt and Simonson, 1997) and should translate into brand equity (Orth and Malkewitz, 2008). According to previous research, aesthetic logo designs can enhance brand commitment (Park et al., 2013) and elicit strong affective responses (Bloch, 1995). Such affective reactions to a logo can influence attitudes toward the brand or company (Foroudi et al., 2014). Therefore, understanding how design elements create positive affective responses has become increasingly important. Yet, despite the relevance of logos as communication cues, empirical studies of logo design issues in marketing journals are still scarce (Peterson et al., 2015). This study seeks to address this research gap by examining consumers’ responses to logo design, and specifically to the different types of natural designs, at a behavioral and psychological level. Additionally, we explore whether socio-demographic variables and consumer personality traits are sources of differences in such reactions.