Wordmark logo design and its effect on click intention through visual attractiveness considering perceived trust

• Main Authors: Balbon, Caitlin Shantelle, Go, Aldrich Kyle C., Javelosa, Justin Christopher U., To Chip, Trisha Lauren A.
• Format: text
• Language: English
• Published: Animo Repository 2023
• Subjects: Logos (Symbols)—Design; Branding (Marketing); Industrial Engineering
• Online Access: https://animorepository.dlsu.edu.ph/etdb_induseng/20; https://animorepository.dlsu.edu.ph/context/etdb_induseng/article/1030/viewcontent/2023_Balbon_Go_Javelosa_ToChip_CompleteVersionETD.pdf
• Institution: De La Salle University

With the rapid growth of the e-commerce industry, companies should be able to establish good branding in order to attract more customers and differentiate themselves from competitors. One way of doing so is to capitalize on the brand logo. A typical logo consists of color, shape, and typeface design, however, with the resurgence of wordmark logos, only color and typeface designs are considered in the design of a wordmark logo (Song & Luximon, 2019). Moreover, with the recent trend that focuses on the shift to flat minimalistic logos, the emphasis on logo designing has also shifted to wordmark logo designs as they are found to have a greater impact in communicating the message of brands to consumers (Bossel, 2019). In this study, the four variables incorporated were wordmark logo elements typeface design, hue, chroma, and value. The objective of this study was to determine and analyze the effect of using different wordmark logo designs on the visual attractiveness of a logo which can in turn affect the customer’s click intention considering perceived trust. This was done by determining which typeface design and color had the most significant impact on click intention. In addition, the mediating role of perceived trust was also analyzed. A total of 331 respondents, who were divided into four groups, took part in this study. The main experiment was done through an online survey questionnaire which contained the stimuli and the different constructs of the variables in the study. A total of four survey questionnaires were created and were disseminated by batch to each respondent group. The respondents were then asked to rate the different constructs in a Likert scale of 1 to 5. A pilot study was first conducted to assess the reliability of the questionnaire. The respondents of the pilot study were also asked for their insights on the survey questionnaire and a graphic designer was interviewed to further validate the survey questionnaire. The reliability test of the pilot study showed that all the constructs of the latent variables are reliable having a cronbach’s alpha of greater than 0.9. Some modifications were made based on the comments. The data obtained from the actual experiment were then analyzed through structural equation modelling (SEM). Based on the results of the experiment, it was observed that the typeface designs such as Onyx, Playbill, Logan, Stencil Set, and Industria Inline are recommended as it had the greatest impact on visual attractiveness, perceived trust, and click intention. Moreover, colored wordmark logos with a low value and high chroma had a higher impact on visual attractiveness, perceived trust, and click intention. TokyoDesigned, a graphic design firm that was interviewed, noted that this choice of typeface design is suitable to catch the attention of consumers since it is professional, making it visually attractive thereby increasing click intention through perceived trust. Moreover, perceived trust has also been found to mediate visual attractiveness and click intention. The findings of this study can also be used as a guideline by companies in the e-commerce industry to make their wordmark logo. Since e-commerce is a fast-growing industry, this research studied a consumer behavior that is highly evident in the online setting which is click intention. Since the online market is becoming more and more saturated with the entry of different types of business owners, it is important to know how to be set apart from the competitors. One way to do this is by designing a brand logo that is visually attractive to increase click intention of the consumer while fostering trust as well.