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The effects of uppercase and lowercase wordmarks on brand perceptions

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Abstract

Although frequently altered by companies in logo redesign, upper and lowercase wordmarks have never been studied in marketing literature. This research investigates the influence of using a specific lettering case in a wordmark on consumer brand perceptions. Across two studies, the authors find that psychologically, consumers feel closer to lowercase wordmarks, which increase perceptions of brand friendliness compared with the uppercase wordmarks. On the other hand, compared with lowercase wordmarks, consumers perceive a higher level of strength from uppercase wordmarks, resulting in an increased perception of brand authority. Additionally, the authors find that this lettering case effect is mitigated when the wordmark design is complex versus when it is simple. Finally, the implications of these findings are discussed regarding brand visual stimuli and brand image communication.

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  1. We thank an anonymous reviewer for offering the insight.

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Acknowledgements

This project was supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (Grant No. 71472104, and 71472105), Tsinghua University Initiative Scientific Research Program (20151080390), and the Major Project under Key Research Institute of Humanities and Social Sciences at Universities, Ministry of Education of P.R.C. (Grant No. 16JJD630006). Please address correspondence to Maggie Wenjing Liu.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Marketing, Business School, Nankai University, Tianjin, 300071, China

    Xiaobing Xu

  2. Department of Marketing, School of Economics and Management, Tsinghua University, Beijing, 100084, China

    Rong Chen & Maggie Wenjing Liu

Authors
  1. Xiaobing Xu
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  2. Rong Chen
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  3. Maggie Wenjing Liu
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Maggie Wenjing Liu.

Appendix

Appendix

Uppercase vs. lowercase lettering wordmarks used in studies 1–2.

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Xu, X., Chen, R. & Liu, M.W. The effects of uppercase and lowercase wordmarks on brand perceptions. Mark Lett 28, 449–460 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11002-016-9415-0

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