Logos' textual and visual content: the double anchorage effect

The logo is a key part of a brand’s visual identity. Logos appear on letterhead, business cards, annual reports, package and product designs, print and TV advertisements, websites and smartphone applications. As a result, logos have become an important way to capture awareness and build brand image. This study investigates how logo design impacts brand perception. More specifically, we explore how a logo’s textual content interacts with its graphic design to deliver a specific message. Semiotic theory provides the framework to study this question. Two logos with the same textual content but different designs are analyzed, first through a semiotic study and then with an experiment involving 903 survey respondents. The results confirm that the textual content of the logos interacts with the visual aspect in what we have termed the double anchorage effect.