Logo shape and color as drivers of change in brand evaluation and recognition

Torbarina, Matia; Grgurić Čop, Nina; Jelenc, Lara Article Logo shape and color as drivers of change in brand evaluation and recognition Naše gospodarstvo / Our Economy Provided in Cooperation with: Faculty of Economics and Business, University of Maribor Suggested Citation: Torbarina, Matia; Grgurić Čop, Nina; Jelenc, Lara (2021) : Logo shape and color as drivers of change in brand evaluation and recognition, Naše gospodarstvo / Our Economy, ISSN 2385-8052, Sciendo, Warsaw, Vol. 67, Iss. 1, pp. 33-45, https://doi.org/10.2478/ngoe-2021-0004 This Version is available at: https://hdl.handle.net/10419/290487 Standard-Nutzungsbedingungen: Die Dokumente auf EconStor dürfen zu eigenen wissenschaftlichen Zwecken und zum Privatgebrauch gespeichert und kopiert werden. Sie dürfen die Dokumente nicht für öffentliche oder kommerzielle Zwecke vervielfältigen, öffentlich ausstellen, öffentlich zugänglich machen, vertreiben oder anderweitig nutzen. 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If the documents have been made available under an Open Content Licence (especially Creative Commons Licences), you may exercise further usage rights as specified in the indicated licence. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/ Logo Shape and Color as Drivers of Change in Brand Evaluation and Recognition Matia Torbarina University of Rijeka, Faculty of Economics and Business, Croatia [email protected] Nina Grgurić Čop University of Rijeka, Faculty of Economics and Business, Croatia nina.grguric.c[email protected] Lara Jelenc University of Rijeka, Faculty of Economics and Business, Croatia [email protected] Abstract The purpose of the present study was to test whether logo shape and color affect emotional and cognitive response to a new logo. In the explorative part of the study, the effect of the amount of each of the additive primary color on logo perception was examined. Research was done on a sample of 190 students whose ratings were used as logo description measures. Two independent variables used in the study were logo shape (abstract vs. concrete) and logo color (original color vs. greyscale). Results showed that greyscale logos and logos that are concrete were recognized more accurately while liking was not related to either independent variable. It was also observed that the amount of red color in logo is negatively (correlated/related), and blue and green color are positively related to both logo recognition and logo liking. Practitioners are advised to note that factors affecting consumers’ cognition and emotion are different. Scientists can extend findings on the effect of amount of individual colors in a logo. This is one of the first works of research that examined the effect of logo color on brand recognition and has approached studying color in this way of averaging amount of each of the additive primary colors. External validity of the research is enhanced by testing the younger generation in their natural habitat of mobile phone environment. Keywords: corporate logo, brand awareness, logo likability, logo color, logo shape Introduction Brand logo is considered to be one of the most salient and important parts of corporate visual identity (Adir et al., 2012), which can lead to consumers’ affective reactions before carrying out any promotional activity (Bresciani & Del Ponte, 2017). For it to be effective and appealing, logo creation is usually entrusted to specialized designers. The problem with this kind of logo creation is that specialized designers rarely do any impression-creation research, and even if they NAŠE GOSPODARSTVO OUR ECONOMY Vol. 67 No. 1 ORIGINAL SCIENTIFIC PAPER RECEIVED: MARCH 2020 REVISED: DECEMBER 2020 ACCEPTED: FEBRUARY 2021 DOI: 10.2478/ngoe-2021-0004 UDK: 659.126 JEL: M30 M31 M37 Citation: Torbarina, M., Grgurić Čop, N., & Jelenc, L. (2021). Logo Shape and Color as Drivers of Change in Brand Evaluation and Recognition.Naše gospodarstvo/Our Economy, 67(1), 33–45. DOI: 10.2478/ngoe-2021-0004 pp. 33–45 2021 NAŠE GOSPODARSTVO / OUR ECONOMY Vol. 67 No. 1 / March 2021 34 do, it is questionable how prone they would be to share their results with their colleagues and scientific community since their work is commercial and not free (Colman, 1995). Few designers that are willing to share their logo creation process state that it all starts from a pool of shapes from which they select those that elicit positive affect and meaning (Henderson & Cote, 1998). This conflict between the designers and scientists is still present and is rooted in the basic epistemology; designers are focused on creation while scientists aim for discovery (Peralta & Moultrie, 2010). Others have noted practitioners rarely use conceptual tools which are recommended by academics (Boiling et al., 2017). Greater blame has been assigned to scientists for their lack of accurate and easily understandable communication (Cheng & Rolandi, 2015; Khoury et al., 2019). The logo design and selection process can be expensive due to the numerous tasks and employees that need to be engaged. For example, initial design and (re)placing the logo on everything from business cards to signage on buildings (Pimentel, 1997; as cited in Henderson & Cote, 1998) are only a few activities that add to the total costs of this action. On the other side, the primary goal of advertising, especially in the early stages of a brand/product introduction, is to build brand awareness, or getting the consumers to be able to recall or recognize a brand (Business Dictionary, n. d). Due to the rapid growth of new brands, over 40 million brands are registered all over the world (WIPO, 2019), and brand awareness became even more important for leaving a distinctive footprint in consumers' minds. To help brands understand how to achieve better recognition in a cluttered digital environment, researchers need to understand why some brands are more recognizable than others. On top of that, the positive effect of logo perception on customers’ commitment and consequentially on firm performance is not derived from merely being able to identify the brand, but also by offering aesthetic appeal (Park et al., 2013): to build a strong customer mindset brand equity (Ye & Van Raaij, 2004), another element needs to be considered - brand liking. Despite the obvious link with brand awareness and the fact that a likable logo can mean future budget-saving for a company, not much research attention has been devoted to investigating which corporate logo characteristics affect perception of firms’ visual identity. For instance, there are guidelines for selecting and modifying logos (Henderson & Cote, 1998). But they were broadly stated without describing which specific logo features lead to higher recognition. That is why in their later work they called for more research on both logo color and shape as predictors of branding outcomes (Henderson et al., 2003). The research on logo recognition took various turns since, from estimating its alignment with company’s mission (Hynes, 2008) to doing research on an existing logo, such as Apple’s logo (Blake, 2015). Recent studies have tried to explain how logos are recognized in social network images. Wang et al. (2014) acknowledged the importance of logo recognition (Mehta & Purvis, 2006) and explained how consumers react to changes in design of existing logos (Machado et al. 2012, Machado et al., 2015). However, none focused on how specific logo features can enhance likability and recognition in the future. One of the design features that is often featured in studies is the color (Dowling, 1994). But researchers mostly focused on the appropriateness of color (Bottomley & Doyle, 2016) or its meaning (Hynes, 2008). More recent studies have focused on specific nichelike fashion blogs (Ridgway & Beth Myers, 2013) with findings that cannot be generalized to all the logo research. In contrast to previous research, present research aims to offer more general information on how these logo features impact brand awareness determinants (brand recognition) and likability by discerning logo color and shape from other brand cues. Importance of recognition as a brand awareness measure is emphasized by researchers’ efforts to devise a technique based on feature binding to enhance logo recognition (Romberg & Lienhart, 2013). The present paper’s purpose is contribution to the nascent literature on logo characteristics and its effect on important marketing outcomes such as brand awareness in the digital environment. It will be done through examination of how specific brand logo characteristics affect its likeability (i. e. elicits emotional response) and recognizability (i. e. cognitive response) in a crowded, digital environment. Although like previous research on logo design, the present study differs in a couple of ways. First, the research design includes color, shape, recognition, and likeability of the logo. Second, the authors are not aware of any previous research that empirically tested for the relationship between color and recognizability. Third, contrary to existing research on color, the authors of this study propose a more objective way of measuring color in each logo – as an average amount of additive primary colors used on television and computer screens (red, green, blue). Finally, the study’s design enhances the external validity of the observed results by placing the research in the environment in which respondents are most familiar with - their smartphones. The following section will describe key concepts used in the research. Methodology and results sections are followed by a discussion of the most important results together with implications and research limitations. Matia Torbarina, Nina Grgurić Čop, Lara Jelenc: Logo Shape and Color as Drivers of Change in Brand Evaluation and Recognition 35 Theoretical Background and Hypotheses Development Corporate logo as a key corporate brand likability and awareness determinant The definition of brand awareness mentioned in the introduction makes a clear distinction between recollection and recognition, which is in line with how other authors (Belch & Belch, 2018) view indicators of brand awareness: unaided recall and aided brand recall. Original brand awareness definition states that it is a reflection of presence of the brand in the mind of consumers which plays a key role in determining brand equity (Aaker, 1998). This definition, and especially the way in which it is measured, is grounded in the Atkinson-Shiffrin model of memory (Atkinson & Shiffrin, 1968). According to this model, recognition represents perceiving something as previously known (Mandler, 1980) and is considered to be an easier task than recollection. Experiments conducted in 1968 by Atkinson and Shiffrin showed that subjects who were not able to recall an answer but were able to choose the correct answer among a set of alternatives, showed a high level of accuracy in recognition. That is why examining the antecedents that drive and increase logo recognizability is an important issue in branding and advertising. Regardless of the cultural aspect, when a firm finds itself in the low-investment setting, one of the few cues that can differentiate them is the affect attached to a logo (Machado et al., 2015). Research on known corporate logos showed that the congruency of design elements (i.e. both brand components were evaluated similarly in terms of shape symbolism) was more frequently related to emotional engagement and consequently to positive emotions (Salgado-Montejo et al., 2014). Corporate visual identity positively affects, through logo design, a firm’s visibility, distinctiveness, authenticity, transparency, and consistency (Van den Bosch et al., 2005). Being well-aware the “quality of design” would be nearly impossible to examine in a single piece of research. This research builds upon the existing research on logo color and shape in trying to provide a deeper understanding on some missing or still ambiguous effects logo design has on brand likability and recognizability. Brand liking and recognizability are determinants of consumer mind brand equity (Ye & Van Raaij, 2004). Brand awareness of a corporate brand is a dominant choice heuristic among subjects, emphasizing that building brand awareness was an important strategy for advertising if brands want to increase probability to be chosen (Hoyer & Brown, 1990). Due to the corporate brand logo’s effect on brand awareness through eliciting favorable, unique associations (Girard et al., 2013; van Grinsven & Das, 2016), examination of the prerequisites and consequences of a likable logo is of great academic and practical importance. The environment is quickly changing and brands are adjusting their business to millennials who show different behavior patterns than previous generations (Črešnar & Jevšenak, 2019). Younger consumers spend most of their time online (Emarketer, 2019) which leads to attentional saturation. This difficulty in memorizing most of the things they are exposed to became an important determinant of young generations (Blake et al., 2015). Importance of favorable logo (i.e. one with likable corporate name, shape and typeface) perception on corporate image, recognizability, familiarity and reputation was observed by Foroudi et al. (2014). In the present study, a closer look is given to how likability and recognizability can be affected by two corporate logo design components – color and shape. Logo color and likability Many promotional channels and forms of communication are perceived as either a signal or noise to different consumers (Belch & Belch, 2018). For this reason, it is important to get the most out of every logo-consumer contact, and the first step towards this goal is having a corporate logo that people like. The simplest form of differentiation when it comes to studying color is grayscale vs original color. In their guidelines for logo creation, Henderson and Cote (1998) emphasized preliminary evidence suggests that color greatly affects the perception of design. Color also plays a big role in driving brand personality (Labrecque & Milne, 2012; Ridgway & Myers, 2014) and signalizes affiliation to the specific industry sector (O’Connor, 2011), making it easier to position a brand in a complex macro environment and consumers’ minds. But, when studying color in marketing, researchers mostly focused on its appropriateness rather than likability: an appropriately chosen color for a corporate logo can bring inherent and immediate value to a brand (Bottomley & Doyle, 2006; Hynes, 2009). There was, however, exploratory research done on the effect logo color has on likability (Labrecque & Milne, 2012). Results suggested that addition of a color enhanced logo likability. Despite its valuable findings in directing the role of color in branding, it was done using existing corporate brands’ logos, which have their own, pre-existing brand likability and consumers’ experiences with brands. To extrapolate the effect color plays in logo likability by using unknown logos, we propose the following: H1: Colored logos will be liked more than grayscale ones. NAŠE GOSPODARSTVO / OUR ECONOMY Vol. 67 No. 1 / March 2021 36 Logo shape and likability Logos shapes have been at the focus of numerous studies for many years now (e.g. Henderson & Cote, 1998; Bottomley & Doyle, 2006). They observed that concrete, figurative, or natural shapes are those that resemble real-life objects - something people are usually exposed to (such as letters or objects). Abstract shapes, on the other hand, do not resemble anything people usually see. An example of concrete and abstract logos used in the present research is shown in Figure 1. tries (Pittard et al., 2007) showed universal preference for divine proportion across cultures, and the biggest effect was observed for logos resembling forms found in nature. Based on these findings, the following hypotheses are proposed: H2: Concrete logos will be liked more than abstract ones. Logo color and recognizability Despite color being a hypothesized predictor of many outcomes in marketing literature (eg. Singh, 2006), few, if any, studies have tested its relationship with an important indicator of brand awareness, logo recognition. There are, however, indications that logo color can affect its recognizability. Logo identification is significantly faster for logos presented in color, as opposed to achromatic logos (Tanaka & Presnell, 1999). Recognition performance increased significantly when face images were presented in color rather than in greyscale (Yip & Sinha, 2002). The same effect was observed for images of scenery (Wichmann et al., 2002). Finally, color, in general, improves recognition of presented images (Wurm et al., 1993). H3: Colored logos will be correctly recognized more frequently than grayscale ones. Logo shape and recognizability It has been shown that naturalistic logos (i.e. logos that are formed of recognizable everyday figures) are recognized more correctly than abstract logos (Henderson & Cote, 1998; Machado et al., 2015). Recognition occurs on two levels: consumers should remember seeing the logo, which is called “correct recognition” and then they should be able to recreate the brand name, “recall phase” (Henderson & Cote, 1998). Eliciting consumers’ sense of recognition without heavy exposure is becoming imperative (Henderson & Cote, 1998), especially in the low investment setting that is now more common than ever with start-ups gaining in popularity. Recognition was facilitated by brand name being depicted pictorially, rather than in plain text (MacInnis & Jaworski, 1989). Marketers in both western and eastern cultures report a need to select logo designs that are “elaborate, natural, and harmonious” if they want to be recognized correctly, suggesting recognition overcomes national borders (Henderson et al., 2003). Children also showed higher recognition for logos to which they were more frequently exposed to (Arredondo et al., 2009), meaning they perceive them as being concrete rather than abstract. Brand recognition was also found to be dependent on the number of exposures. Increase in exposure leads to an increase in brand recognition, especially for complex brand logos, thus suggesting shortterm benefits for simple brand logos, and long-term benefits Figure 1. Examples of abstract and concrete logos used in the study Source: Behance, n.d. By using stimulus codability, a term used in psychology to describe notions of consensus in meaning, Henderson & Cote (1998) explained concrete logos that are easily codable, as they remind people of something they have already seen and thus are perceived, interpreted, and retained. Theoretical assumptions stating that that circular shapes activate softness associations and angular shapes activate hardness associations motivated research by Henderson & Cote (1998) and Jiang et al. (2016). Both papers showed that shape, as the sole feature of the logo, is powerful enough to affect perceptions of a company’s attributes. But there was not much data on whether respondents liked what they had seen. Nevertheless, their conclusions were the steppingstones for further development of research on logo characteristics that need to be emphasized to elicit positive outcomes. Research on the relationship between logo shape and likeability showed that a logo’s sense of nature influences consumers’ affective response to the logo (César Machado et al., 2012); the change in the roundedness of a previously angular logo affects brand attitude negatively, but only for strongly committed consumers, whereas weakly committed consumers will react positively to such changes (Walsh et al., 2010; Walsh et al., 2011). These effects are similar across cultures. Surveys conducted in three different coun- Matia Torbarina, Nina Grgurić Čop, Lara Jelenc: Logo Shape and Color as Drivers of Change in Brand Evaluation and Recognition 37 for complex logos (van Grinsven & Das, 2016). Previous research on logo shape and recognition also used existing, well-known logos as stimuli in the study (Machado et al., 2015). By conceptually replicating previous studies with images of unknown logos, authors are extending findings of the previous research. A hypothesis on shape as a driver of brand recognition follows: H4: Concrete logos will be correctly recognized more frequently than abstract ones. Examining a relationship between the average amount of the additive primary colors and its effect on brand likability and recognition – exploratory study The digital environment is where most consumer-brand encounters take place (Emarketer, 2019). On television and computer screens, the additive primary colors used to project images are red, green and blue (so called RGB model). That means each color displayed on screen is a combination of these three colors. Marketing literature has often gained valuable insights from color studies (Singh, 2006). As for these three colors, it is now known that retail stores need to be blue rather than red (Bellizzi & Hite’s, 1992), as blue is perceived as sincere, dependable, and trustworthy (Jacobs et al., 1991) while red is paired with love and adventure (Jacobs et al., 1991). Blue and green are more positively evaluated than red, although red is perceived to be the most active color (Adams & Osgood, 1973). Generally, preference for color suggests blue and green are most preferable, while red and yellow are the least preferable colors (Whitfield & Wiltshire, 1990). However, as no previous research on color used in logo design operationalized colors as a combination of additive primary colors, this part of the research is explorative, focusing on the following research question: RQ1: How does the amount of each of the primary colors affect logo liking and recognition? Methodology of Research Sample The study was done in the spring of 2019, on a convenience sample of 190 participants with mean age 19.66 years (sdage = 1.46 years), 26% were male. The sample frame consisted of 307 students enrolled in the first year of their undergraduate studies at the Faculty of Economics and Business making the response rate 61%. A student population was used for a couple of reasons. First, reports show that students, particularly those between the ages of 18-24, represent an important marketing segment for retailers and brands to communicate about new products/ promotions (Emarketer, 2019). Secondly, studies show that smartphones are the most commonly used devices for this cohort (Biloš et al., 2017), meaning that it represents externally the most valid environment for this population. One half of the sample (N = 94 students) was exposed to logos in grayscale while the other half was exposed to logos in their original color. Stimuli and procedure Stimuli used in the study consisted of images of unknown logos. The reason the authors opted for the unknown logos was to control the brand familiarity, as suggested by previous research on logo design (e.g. Bresciani & Del Ponte, 2017; Machado et al., 2015). Unknown logos may lead to affective reactions and meaning consensus simply due to the design of the logo rather than any prior experience participants have with it. All logos were sampled from the webpage (Behance, n.d.). Two templates were downloaded, each containing 28 different logos. Four from the first template and six from the second were discarded based on their size. By eliminating them from the analyses, size of the logo was effectively controlled for. Each logo had the same size of 297x230 pixels. The shape and color were similar for both the logos that were rated and those that were used as distractors. Thus, the observed difference could have arisen solely from the fact that one set had been seen while the other had not. A pre-test was done on a sample of 16 students whose task was to indicate whether they had seen each of the target logos used in the research, without participating in the liking phase. They recognized an average of 1.56 logos (SD = 1.41) out of 24 that were presented, which serves as a successful manipulation check that the logos were, indeed, unknown. Procedure The study began at the start of the class which all the students were obligated to attend. The students were instructed to take out their smartphones and to follow the presented link to the Google Forms questionnaire. The first phase of the study started with a presentation of 24 logos, the order of which was randomized for each participant. Their task was to rate how much they liked each of the presented logos. All logos were presented simultaneously, and students were free to scroll up and down and rate them at their own pace. After they had rated the logos, the lecture was resumed as usual. Lecture content was not related to research in any way and logos were not mentioned during the lecture. NAŠE GOSPODARSTVO / OUR ECONOMY Vol. 67 No. 1 / March 2021 38 Approximately 90 minutes later, at the end of the class, students were asked to follow another Google link to another questionnaire. Unlike the first part of the study, their task in this phase was to indicate which of the 46 (24 original + 22 distractor) logos they had seen. The total time needed for completion of the study was approximately five minutes. Measures Authors manipulated two explanatory variables, logo color and logo shape. Logo color, a between-subjects factor, was presented in either the original color or grayscale, while logo shape, within-subjects factor was presented as logo being either concrete or abstract in its’ shape. A logo’s shape was determined based on an inspection, which was performed by two authors. Inter-rater reliability, expressed as Cohen’s kappa, was calculated to be 0,91, which falls into the category of “almost perfect agreement” (Landis & Koch, 1972). Authors concluded that eight of the logos can be categorized as being “concrete”, and 16 can be categorized as “abstract” logos. Key outcome measures were averaged for each logo. These measures consisted of participants’ liking of each logo, their recognition of a logo, and the correlation between liking and recognition for each factor. Liking was measured on a 5-point scale where higher numbers indicate higher liking. Logo recognition was measured as a binary variable with values of 0 (not recognized) and 1 (correctly recognized). Correlation between recognition and liking for each factor represents how they are related to each other, or in other words, how much variance they share among themselves. Additionally, the average amount of the additive primary colors, red, green and blue, was calculated for each colored logo. O’Connor (2011) suggests using these three colors for several reasons. First, they can be easily assessed with computer software which makes it easy to translate their values into any color. Furthermore, the RGB (red, green, blue) system offers an opportunity to be reproduced across several computer programs such as Word, Excel, and Powerpoint. Finally, color data can be easily arranged and grouped, which enables the identification of similar patterns. These colors represent popular primaries for additive color mixing used in LCD screens, for example (http://rit-mcsl.org/fairchild/WhyIsColor/shortAs.html). Amount of color was measured on 0-255 which corresponds to a scale commonly used by Microsoft programs for color customization. Average amount was calculated by breaking down the logo image into pixels using the “imager” package (Barthelme, 2019). Each logo had approximately 60.000 pixels. The amount of the color in each of them was averaged across all pixels, which resulted in a single estimation of the average amount of red, green, and blue color in each of them. White pixels (all three colors at their maximum) were excluded from the analysis since they represent the logo background and not the logo itself. Results All analyses were down within the R statistical environment (R Core Team, 2016). Visualizations were created using the “ggplot2” package (Wickham, 2016) and the amount of color in each logo was calculated with the help of “imager” (Barthelme, 2019). Code necessary for analysis reproduction can be found in the Open Science Framework repository (https://osf.io/g9qwj) along with the database and stimuli used following open data suggestions by Houtkoop et al. (2018). A description of the used measures for each level of explanatory variables is presented in Table 1. H1 and H2 were tested with a two-way mixed design analysis of variance. Results are presented in Table 2. Rating of a logo liking is independent of both the shape and color (F2,45 = 0.71; p>0.05). Conversely, recognition differs based on logo characteristics and the way in which it is presented (F2,45 = 17.34; p<0.01). Table 1. Descriptive statistics n M SD Abstract Correlation of liking and recognition 32 0.01 0.13 Liking 32 2.88 0.49 Recognition 32 0.62 0.13 Recognition variability 32 0.47 0.06 Concrete Correlation of liking and recognition 16 0.08 0.12 Liking 16 3.01 0.49 Recognition 16 0.69 0.12 Recognition variability 16 0.45 0.06 Colored Correlation of liking and recognition 24 -0.03 0.10 Liking 24 2.98 0.47 Recognition 24 0.57 0.07 Recognition variability 24 0.49 0.01 Greyscale Correlation of liking and recognition 24 0.09 0.13 Liking 24 2.86 0.51 Recognition 24 0.72 0.13 Recognition variability 24 0.43 0.08 Matia Torbarina, Nina Grgurić Čop, Lara Jelenc: Logo Shape and Color as Drivers of Change in Brand Evaluation and Recognition 39 Logos that were more accurately recognized as already seen were concrete and presented in greyscale. The unstandardized difference in recognition between colored and greyscale logos equals b = 0.15 (p<0.01). In other words, 15% more logos were accurately recognized when presented in greyscale than in their original colors. The effect is someTable 2. Linear regression coefficients R R2 Beta p Liking Abstractness 0.173205 0.03 0.13 >0.05 Color -0.12 >.,05 Recognition Abstractness 0.663325 0.44 -0.26 <0.05 Color -0.6 <0.01 what smaller for the level of abstraction (b = 0.07; p<0.05). Concrete logos are recognized more accurately than abstract logos. Results are graphically presented in the Figure 2. Finally, exploratory analysis, in which the effect of particular color was examined on liking and recognition, showed that logos with more red color in them are both less liked (r = -0.46) and less recognized (r = -0.17). The effect is opposite for blue and green, which showed a positive correlation with both liking and recognition. It is worth mentioning that due to the exploratory nature of the study and small sample size (only 24 colored logos were analyzed), the sign of the relationship was of greater importance than the statistical significance, although all the relationships were statistically significant, except for the relationship between recognition and the amount of red and blue in a logo. Table 3 contains descriptive statistics and correlation between the amount of a certain color and ratings of liking and recognition. Figure 2. Relationship between logo liking and logo recognition based on logo color and shape Note: shaded area indicates 95% CI. NAŠE GOSPODARSTVO / OUR ECONOMY Vol. 67 No. 1 / March 2021 40 Each logo contains similar amounts of all three colors, with blue being a bit less used. It is important to mention that different combinations of these three colors result in a variety of colors. However, given that these results are among the first to examine color in this numerical way, they can serve as an initial step for future research. Results are graphically presented in Figure 3. Figure 3. Relationship between amount of primary colors (red, green and blue) in a colored logo and logo liking/recognition. Note: shaded area indicates 95% CI. Table 3. Descriptive statistics of the color variables Notes: significance p<0.05*, p<0.01** M SD Red Green Blue Red 162.4 49.41 Green 155.35 30.04 Blue 132.88 37.17 Liking - - -0.46* 0.60** 0.52** Recognition - - -0.17 0.60** 0.38 In summary, apart from the H4 (concrete logos will be recognized more accurately), none of the hypotheses were confirmed. Neither the logo’s color nor shape affect likeability or recognition. As for the effect of the amount of individual color in a logo, the amount of blue and green in a logo was seen as positive, while the amount of red showed a negative relationship with both recognition and likeability. Discussion of the results and their implications are presented in the following sections. Discussion Most of the findings of the present study are in contradiction with the previous research (Labrecque & Milne, 2012; Pittard et al., 2007; Wichman et al., 2002). Part of the reason for this contradiction may be accounted for by the differences in the study’s design where the present study was run in different context (smartphones), on different samples (students), using rather similar, unknown logos as the