Living brands: consumer responses to animated brand logos

Abstract

This research builds foundational theory in a new domain of marketing: animated visual brand elements. It focuses on agent animation, which conveys a sense that the brand element, such as a logo, moves of its own volition, as distinguished from object animation, which does not. Given limited marketplace utilization (pilot study), animated logos represent new opportunities for branding and promotion. However, the influence of agent animation on attitude toward the firm or brand is contingent on the fluent processing of the animation in the context it is used. As compared with object-animated or static logos, agent animation encourages more favorable attitudes toward dynamic firms but less favorable attitudes toward stable firms (Studies 1 and 2). Further, more favorable attitudes arise when the brand personality suggested by the animation is consistent with other brand cues, such as brand slogans (Study 3) or the logo graphic (Study 4). Finally, the effects are replicated with choice behavior using established brands (Study 5).