The role of brand logos in firm performance

This research demonstrates that the positive effects of brand logos on customer brand commitment and firm performance derive not from enabling brand identification, as is currently understood, but primarily from facilitating customer self-identity/expressiveness, representing a brand's functional benefits, and offering aesthetic appeal. This study examines whether brand names or visual symbols as logos are more effective at creating these benefits and whether or not the impact of the three aforementioned brand logo benefits on customer brand commitment and firm performance is contingent on the extent to which a firm leverages its brand (i.e., employs brand extensions to different product categories). (C) 2012 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.