Living brands: consumer responses to animated brand logos

J. of the Acad. Mark. Sci. (2016) 44:639653 DOI 10.1007/s11747-015-0449-2

ORIGINAL EMPIRICAL RESEARCH

Living brands: consumer responses to animated brand logos

S. Adam Brasel1 & Henrik Hagtvedt2

Received: 4 August 2014 /Accepted: 7 May 2015 /Published online: 31 May 2015 # Academy of Marketing Science 2015

Abstract This research builds foundational theory in a new domain of marketing: animated visual brand elements. It focuses on agent animation, which conveys a sense that the brand element, such as a logo, moves of its own volition, as distinguished from object animation, which does not. Given limited marketplace utilization (pilot study), animated logos represent new opportunities for branding and promotion. However, the influence of agent animation on attitude toward the firm or brand is contingent on the fluent processing of the animation in the context it is used. As compared with object-animated or static logos, agent animation encourages more favorable attitudes toward dynamic firms but less favorable attitudes toward stable firms (Studies 1 and 2). Further, more favorable attitudes arise when the brand personality suggested by the animation is consistent with other brand cues, such as brand slogans (Study 3) or the logo graphic (Study 4). Finally, the effects are replicated with choice behavior using established brands (Study 5).

Keywords Logos . Animation . Attention . Agency . Brand personality . Brand attitude

The modern world is shifting from traditional print media to animated screens, and consumers attention is increasingly geared toward smartphones, tablets, and laptops (Medoff and Kaye 2010; Rapp et al. 2013). This provides new opportunities for marketing materials such as brand logos. Just as higher quality printing and color production allowed logos to move beyond textmarks and become graphical, screen-based media now allow them to become animated.

Animation appears to offer potential benefits for brands. It may serve as a promotional tool and help establish brand personalities, leading to more vivid brand identities. Why, then, are most brand logos still static? This could be due to brand inertia, as many popular logos were established in the era of print media dominance when animated logos were not possible. However, even modern technology and internet brands commonly adhere to static logos, and the rare instances of logo animation are typically simple fade-ins, fadeouts, or screen location translations....