March 18, 2008 | Category: Branding, Logo Design News | Tags: logo design tips

Here’s another compelling reason why logo design is important in building your brand identity. A new study suggests that exposure to famous logo designs can affect our creativity or thinking processes.

Published in the Journal of Consumer Research, the experiments of professors in Duke University and University of Waterloo (Canada) concluded that “even the briefest exposure to well-known brands can cause people to behave in ways that mirror those brands’ traits.”

Several experiments comparing competing well-known brands were conducted to validate this theory. The first one involved the famous Apple and IBM logos. After testing more than 300 students, each participant was asked to identify the possible uses of bricks aside from building a wall. It turned out those who are exposed to Apple logo have provided more unusual and creative answers compared to the IBM group. Since Apple is known for its innovation and creative flair, the group simply mirrored its traits.

Another test was conducted between Disney and E! TV Channel and the result was the same. Disney group shown a more ”family” behavior compared to the group exposed to the gossip-laden E! Channel.

This study underscores the importance of creating memorable logo designs and more importantly putting strong emphasis on building your brand traits. In terms of implementation, one of the professors recommends that famous brands should put more emphasis on brief brand exposure and less on print or TV ads.