Are 2 Years Enough for a Successful Radical Logo Change? An Abstract

The purpose of the present study was twofold: (1) to investigate the evolution of perceived congruence between a brand and its new logo in a real context of a logo change and during 2 years following the change and (2) to compare this evolution between current customers (high brand familiarity and attachment) and prospects (low brand familiarity and attachment). The study was longitudinal and made up by three data collections over a period of 2 years following the logo change. 776 students (current, high brand attachment and familiarity; applicants, low attachment and familiarity) participated in the three data collections with a 1-year interval, with 220 in 2014, 284 in 2015, and 272 in 2016. For each data collection, the procedure was similar: each participant had to (1) choose a reward as a polo shirt among the two displaying either the new or the old school logo and (2) answer a questionnaire after having been exposed randomly either to the new or the old logo, including measures of brand attachment and familiarity and perceived congruence of the logo (old or new) with the brand.