When logos seem human: Moderating role of dynamic imagery and product types on evaluations of anthropomorphized logos

Logo designs play a strategic role in communicating brand value to consumers, thereby contributing significantly to brands' success. This study explores the interactive effects of anthropomorphic logo with perceived movement (dynamic imagery) on brand attractiveness, brand attitude and brand engagement. Further, it also evaluates the moderating effects of product types (search vs credence products) on consumers' brand evaluations. A factorial design with 2 (anthropomorphism vs non-anthropomorphism) x manipulated 2 (dynamic vs static) X 2 (search vs credence) - mixed designs are used to validate the proposed relationships. The fictitious logos, designed with experts' help, were pre-tested using post-graduate students of a leading university in India. The respondents for the main study were chosen using a snowballing approach from researchers' social media contacts. Through an experiment design, the research establishes that dynamic imagery in anthropomorphized logos is perceived more favourably by consumers than anthropomorphized logos. It also establishes the moderating role of product types and explains how anthropomorphic logos with dynamic imagery are perceived as more attractive than anthropomorphized logos in credence products than search products. This contributes to logo design studies and has implications for managers in designing more appealing and engaging logos for brands. Furthermore, this is also one of the first studies that have used brand attractiveness as an outcome variable and brand engagement and attitude. With this study's outcomes, managers can now make decisions on logo designs by incorporating "humanlike" features and incorporating a sense of dynamism in them that would be better appreciated by viewers.