Abstract

Using modified visual brand elements to attract attention without affecting brand recognition is paramount to building adaptive and flexible visual brand identities. Three experiments were conducted to test the impact of visual brand modification on attention, recognition, and ad evaluation. The results indicate a higher degree of brand visual element modification increased time for a brand element to receive initial attention when participants were not actively searching for brand-related information (i.e., bottom-up attention), yet such effect was not observed when participants were instructed to search for a particular brand element (i.e., top-down attention). A higher degree of shape modification prolonged the time to correctly identify a logo, especially among participants with a high level of brand familiarity. Shape modification affected recognition time more than color modification. Additionally, featuring modified brand visuals improved ad recall, and shape modifications led to higher perceived ad novelty but lower logo relevancy than color modifications.