Corporate Visual Identity Management

Core concepts and insights from the literature

MEETING 2

Reber, Schwarz, and Winkielman (2004)

 Objectivist and subjectivist view on beauty

 The concept of processing fluency
 The proposal “high fluency leads to positive evaluations” + explanations
 The empirical evidence for the effects of processing fluency
 The mediating role of affect
 The role of objective features of stimuli: Amount of information / Symmetry / Contrast and
clarity
 The role of history with the stimulus: Repeated exposure / Implicit learning of stimulus
structure / Prototypicality
 Moderating variables: Processing expectations / Attributional processes
 Perceptual versus conceptual fluency
 Objective simplicity versus cognitive ease
 Nature versus nurture on aesthetic preferences
 Prototypical versus exaggerated and abstracted forms
 Beauty and truth

 Is it possible to make a visual representation of the processing fluency theory?

 Does processing fluency also applies to verbal communication?
 How can we use insights in processing fluency in the design and evaluation of a CVI?

Wagemans et al. (2012a)

 Essence of Gestalt psychology

 Perceptual grouping
 Grouping principles: Proximity / Similarity / Common fate / Symmetry / Parallelism /
Continuity / Closure / Common region [understand; don’t learn by heart]
 New principles of grouping: Generalized common fate / Synchrony / Common region /
Element connectedness / Uniform connectedness [understand; don’t learn by heart]
 Contour integration and completion
 Grouping principles for contour integration: Proximity / Similarity / Symmetry and parallelism
/ Convexity [understand; don’t learn by heart]
 Contour completion: Modal and amodal completion / Contour interpolation and
extrapolation / Surface geometry and layout [understand; don’t learn by heart]
 Image-based influences on figure-ground organization: Convexity / Symmetry / Lower region
/ Top-bottom polarity / Extremal edges and gradient cuts / Edge-region grouping /
Articulating motion / Advancing region motion / Contour entropy [understand; don’t learn by
heart]
 Nonimage based influences on figure-ground perception: Past experience / Attention and
perceptual set
 The role of shape and depth perception
 Context integration in illusory contours
 Figure-ground organization and border-ownership assignment
Wagemans et al. (2012b Wagemans et al. (2012a)

 Holism: Garner’s dimensional integrality / Emergent features and configural superiority /

Global precedence / Primacy of holistic properties
 The simplicity principle: Veridicality of simplicity / Nature of visual regularity / Cognitive
architecture

 What do you consider to be the essence of Gestalt?

 Do you see connections between processing fluency and Gestalt?
 How can we use Gestalt principles in the design and evaluation of a CVI?

MEETING 4

Crilly, Moultrie, and Clarkson (2004)

 Elaborate framework and all of its elements

 How can this framework be used for evaluating the effects of a CVI?
 What would be the implications of this framework for research into CVI?
 What kinds of criticism are possible on this framework?

Fouroudi, Melewar, & Gupta (2014)

 Research model, including the hypotheses that were and were not confirmed
 Research design

 To what extent can causal inferences be made based on the research design?
 How does the research design relate to Crilly et al.’s framework?

Van den Bosch, De Jong, & Elving (2005)

 The five dimensions, and the way they affect reputation (visibility, distinctiveness,
authenticity, transparency, and consistency)

 How do these findings relate to Fouroudi et al.’s research and Crilly et al.’s framework?

MEETING 5

Aaker & Joachimsthaler (2000)

 Brand architecture
 Brand relationship spectrum
 House of brands
 Endorsed brands
 Subbrands
 Branded house
 Considerations in deciding the right position in the brand relationship spectrum

 How does brand architecture relate to visual identity?

Sirianni, Bitner, Brown, & Mandel (2013)

 Employee-brand alignment
 Relationship between employee-brand alignment and brand evaluations/ brand equity
 Differences between familiar and unfamiliar brands
 Conceptual fluency
 The mediating role of conceptual fluency in the effects of employee-brand alignment
 The role of employee authenticity in the effects of employee-brand alignment

 Why does employee-band alignment have more impact for unfamiliar brands than for
familiar brands?
 What are the implications of this study for CVI management?
 How does conceptual fluency relate to processing fluency?
 What are methodological strengths and weaknesses of the research?

Phillips, McQuarrie, & Griffin (2014)

 Visual brand identity

 Most important visual elements identified by the art directors
 Alternative routes for transferring existing visual brand identity
 Strong vs. weak visual brand identity
 Many vs. few client mandatories
 Brand as icon / springboard / handcuffs / clay
 The role of agency and conflict

 What are the implications of this research for CVI management?

 How would these results be seen from the perspective of CVI managers?
 What are the methodological strengths and weaknesses of the research?

Urde (2003)

 Three viewpoints in looking at values (related to the organization, summing up the brand,
experienced by the customer)
 Relationship between values and identity
 Internal and external core value-based brand building process
 Brand architecture based on core values and identity (shared/individual)
 Corporate brand
 Product brands
 Corporate- and product brand
 Product- and corporate brand

 How do the internal and external core value-based brand building processes relate to each
other?
 How does the brand architecture described by Urde relate to that described by Aaker and
Joachimsthaler?
 Do you consider this article to be descriptive or normative?
MEETING 6

 Overall: How do you judge the validity of the research designs aimed at investigating the
communicative value of CVI elements?

Cian, Krishna, & Elder (2014)

 Dynamic imagery / dynamism

 Consumer engagement
 Effects of dynamism on attitude toward the brand
 Mechanism of engagement as mediating factor
 Moderating role of congruence with organization characteristics
 Effects of direction of movement

 How does consumer engagement in this study relate to processing fluency?

Doyle & Bottomley (2006)

 Research model used

 Font-product congruity
 Sources of product-font congruity: learned arbitrary associations, figurative associations, and
abstract meanings
 Osgood’s three dimensions: evaluation, potency, and activity
 Context-free versus context-sensitive processing
 Effect of font evaluation and font–product congruity on consumers

 To what extent does this study support the relevance of congruence or consistency in a CVI?

Henderson & Cote (1998)

 Four possible criteria for successful logos: Correct recognition, false recognition, affect, and
familiar meaning
 Design variables in creating logos: natural (representative / organic), harmony (balance /
symmetric designs), Elaborate (complexity / active designs / depth) , parallel, repetition,
proportion, round
 Typology of four types of logos: high-recognition, low-investment, high-image, and poorly
designed
 Relationship between design variables and criteria for successful logos

 How can the effects of design variables be explained?

Jiang, Gorn, Galli, & Chattopadhyay (2016)

 Associations activated buy circular versus angular shapes

 Mental imagery
 Differences between mental imagery and actual pictures
 The role of visual working memory capacity (visual vs. cognitive load)
 The role of predisposition to generate imagery
 Relationship with overall framing (ad headline)

 What are, based on this study, restrictions regarding the communicative power of logos?