Categories of Environmental Print: All Logos are Not Created Equal

Abstract

The purpose of this research was to investigate whether different kinds of environmental print logos were known more frequently by young children than other kinds. Sixty-one 3-, 4-, and 5-year-olds were assessed on 20 full-context color pictures of environmental print logos. These 20 logos were divided into three categories: community (signs prevalent in the local community; e.g., McDonald’s, Kroger), household (items found in many American homes: e.g., Doritos, Crest), and child (items associated with children rather than adults; e.g., Toy Story 2, Lego). Chi-squares were run to determine whether, as hypothesized, the child logos would be better known than the community and household logos within: (1) the whole sample, (2) each of the three age groups, and (3) both genders. As expected, child logos were the best known by all age groups and both boys and girls. However, the differences between the three categories were not significant for the 3-year-olds. This paper concludes with advice to teachers of young children on how to use child related environmental print logos in their classrooms.