Logo creation is both an art and a science. You need to gather information about your market, your target audience, your competitors, and your goals using research and analysis, but you also need to use your own judgment and instincts. Branding isn’t just about numbers, and logo creation shouldn’t be either.
An area where art and science blend in the logo creation process is psychology. Consumer behaviorists rely heavily on the science of psychology to predict how consumers will react to a wide variety of marketing stimuli. One such stimulant is logo design.
People don’t always react sensibly to stimuli. Sometimes our reactions are predetermined by our past life experiences and our personal psychological make-up. Emotional reactions to stimuli, including logos, can be very powerful and difficult to change. That’s why it’s so important to consider psychology during the logo creation process.
Through market research, you can get an idea of how people might react to your logo design by conducting surveys to test the logo. Place it on an ad and show it to survey participants. Ask them about their reactions to it using open-ended and ranking questions.
Conduct before-and-after tests by showing study respondents your ad without the new logo and asking them to rate their purchase intent. Next, show them the ad with the new logo and ask the same question. Use the data to determine whether or not your logo design affects purchase intent positively. Using purchase intent data, you can delve deeper and ask consumers why they felt more or less compelled to purchase your product or service after seeing the ad with your new logo included.
Don’t assume you know how consumers will react to your logo design. By gathering scientific data, you can create a logo that stimulates the right physical and emotional responses in consumers and develops the right perceptions of your brand. It’s much easier, less time consuming, and less expensive to take the time to learn about consumer emotional and physical reactions to your logo design early in the logo creation process than it is to try to change consumer perceptions in the future.
