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Recall and Recognition on Minimalism. A Replication of the Case Study on the Apple Logo

Authors:
Ioana Iancu at Babeș-Bolyai University
Ioana Iancu
Bogdan Iancu at Technical University of Cluj-Napoca
Bogdan Iancu
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The present research aims to better understand the impact of brand exposure and brand perception on logo recall and recognition. Building off of prior work that has examined surprising impairments in visual memory for the Apple logo (Blake, Nazarian and Castel, 2015), a comparative analysis is developed by comparing computer science and social science becoming specialists. The Apple logo is used as a case study due to its minimalism. The data reveal that only a small amount of the subjects can recall and recognize the Apple logo correctly. The recognition phase, in comparison with the recalling one, seems to be an easier task for the subjects. However, although the stylized features of the logo are often overlooked, each subject manages to recognize a large amount of details of the logo. Contrary to expectations, regardless of being a man or a woman, owning an Apple device, or developing a very positive emotional attachment to the brand are not significant variables that can determine a higher level of recall and recognition. Nevertheless, having a strong background in the technological domain can increase the probability of paying much attention to the details of a technical brand.
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Address for Correspondence: Ioana Iancu, email:iancu[at]fspac.ro Article received on the 30th August, 2017.
Article accepted on the 26th November, 2017.
Conflict of Interest: The author declares no conflict of interests.
Original Article
Ioana Iancu1 and Bogdan Iancu2
1 Babes-Bolyai University, Cluj-Napoca, ROMANIA
2 Technical University of Cluj-Napoca, ROMANIA
Abstract: The present research aims to better understand the impact of brand exposure and
brand perception on logo recall and recognition. Building off of prior work that has examined
surprising impairments in visual memory for the Apple logo (Blake, Nazarian and Castel,
2015), a comparative analysis is developed by comparing computer science and social science
becoming specialists. The Apple logo is used as a case study due to its minimalism. The data
reveal that only a small amount of the subjects can recall and recognize the Apple logo
correctly. The recognition phase, in comparison with the recalling one, seems to be an easier
task for the subjects. However, although the stylized features of the logo are often overlooked,
each subject manages to recognize a large amount of details of the logo. Contrary to
expectations, regardless of being a man or a woman, owning an Apple device, or developing a
very positive emotional attachment to the brand are not significant variables that can determine
a higher level of recall and recognition. Nevertheless, having a strong background in the
technological domain can increase the probability of paying much attention to the details of a
technical brand.
Keywords: logo recall; logo recognition; Apple; brand exposure; brand perception;
minimalism.
1. Background
In a world characterized by an inflation of visual inputs, creating and using a minimalist symbol
for a brand might be an efficient ingredient in marketing. One might claim that the more
minimalistic an element is, the more recalled and recognized it becomes. This paper presents a
comparative study between social and computer science students, aiming to assess the level of
recall and recognition of Apple logo, one of the simplest brand symbols. This study is a
replication of the study conducted in 2015 by Adam B. Blake, Meenely Nazarian, and Alan D.
Castel, namely The Apple of the Mind’s Eye: Everyday Attention, Metamemory, and
Reconstructive Memory for the Apple Logo, published in The Quarterly Journal of
Experimental Psychology. The original research has as starting point the puzzle based on which
some scholars are saying that multiple exposure to a certain stimulus can induce an accurate
recall, while other are arguing the contrary (Blake, Nazarian, Castel, 2015). In this particular
KOME − An International Journal of Pure
Communication Inquiry
Volume 5 Issue 2, p. 57-70.
© The Author(s) 2017
Reprints and Permission:
kome@komejournal.com
Published by the Hungarian Communication
Studies Association
DOI: 10.17646/KOME.2017.24
Recall and Recognition on
Minimalism.
A Replication of the Case Study
on the Apple Logo
Iancu, I. and Iancu, B. 58
sense, the stimulus is the Apple logo, an extremely simple, memorable, and recognizable visual
information (Farnham, 2013 in Blake, Nazarian, Castel, 2015). Thus, it is expected that this
logo can be remembered in detail.
Considering that the original study underlines the inability to draw and recognize the
minimalistic Apple logo, and thus emphasizing a considerable memory issue, a replication with
a new sample, in a dissimilar country – Romania aims to provide insights into the robustness
of effects of the used variables. The replication can show whether there are significant
similarities between perceptions, regardless of the economical, social, and technological
context.
Although developed economies (United Nations, 2017), Romania and the United States
of America (USA), the latter being the location of the original experiment, differ. Considering
the topic of the present paper, a relevant dissimilarity between the two countries is related to
income. While the USA is considered to be a high income country, Romania is an upper middle
income one (United Nations, 2017). In addition, the purchasing power parity (PPP) is of 18.56
trillion dollars for the USA and 441 billion dollars for Romania (GFP, 2017). The gross
domestic product (GDP) is another indicator that differentiates the two countries; measured in
US dollars, the American GDP is 17.348.072 million, while the Romanian one is 199.045
million (United Nations, 2016). Whereas the mobile-cellular subscriptions index per 100
inhabitants is 105.9 units in Romania in comparison with 98.4 units in the USA, the individuals
using Internet amount up to 54.1% in Romania and 87.4% in the USA (United Nations, 2016).
Strongly related to the case study in this paper, one significant information estimates that
iPhone sales to end users, in 2016, are 62.9 million in the USA and 34.6 million in Europe
(Dunn, 2017)
1
. Based on the above comparative data, a possible assumption could be that the
recall and recognition on a technological high-end brand, such as Apple, would be lower in the
case of Romania.
In contrast with the original study, the present research adds two new variables to the
existing ones, namely the sex of the subjects and the specialization. Thus, the paper compares
men and women, and the social and computer science becoming specialists. On the one hand,
after studying gender differences, Maccoby and Jacklin claim that there are distinctions
between the abilities of men and women. While men tend to excel in visual-spatial and
mathematical abilities, women tend to perform better at verbal abilities (Herlitz, Nilsson,
Bäckman, 1997: 801). On the other hand, Cattaneo, Postma and Vecchi (2006: 905) stress that
“gender differences apply only to selective dimensions of spatial functioning.” In addition,
there are studies that underline that women have a better spatial and object identity memory
(Voyer et al., 2007) and have a greater ability for tasks, among others, as recall of pictures,
word recognition, object location etc. (Herlitz, Nilsson, Bäckman 1997: 808). Regarding the
specialization comparison, to our knowledge, there are no research studying the relationship
between technical or social expertise and memory recall and recognition. The choice of
computer science and social science becoming specialists relies on the aim to study two
opposite groups in terms of background. However, future research can enlarge the number of
specializations.
Since it is still believed that 70% of all the purchase decision are made in store (Van
Grinsven, Das, 2016), using a recognizable logo might become an important visual element in
marketing. Thus, simple logos, that take little time and little brain capacity to be recognized,
are preferred (Van Grinsven, Das, 2016). As simplicity is considered one of the most important
principles in design, it involves the process of removing any unnecessary element (Eytam,
Tractinsky, Lowengart, 2017).
1
Official data related to iPhone or any other Apple devices sales in Romania are not available.
Iancu, I. and Iancu, B. 59
Logos are considered an important visual variable which connects the consumer to the brand
and to the emotional perceptions (Park, Eisingerich, Pol, Park, 2013). In a market context in
which the number of logos increases, the individuals’ attention toward brands decreases
(Rotfeld, 2006 in Sääksjärvi et al., 2015). In this respect, researchers studying logo design
emphasize the importance of its simplicity and minimalism in order to create a higher level of
recall and recognition (Pimentel and Heckler 2003 in Sharma, Varki, 2017). The literature
assumes that simple elements are easier to be remembered due to their low level of attention
required and less processing capacity (Van Grinsven, Das, 2016). By studying the specific of
logo design on brand recognition, Henderson and Cote (1998 in Van Grinsven, Das, 2016)
claim that, for a higher rate of recognition, a logo should have a natural and harmonious design.
Logos are associated with familiarity, identity, meaning, and likeability (Pimentel and Heckler
2003 in Sharma, Varki, 2017), and are responsible for cognitive and affective coding processes
in linking the somatic markers to the brand (Sharma, Varki, 2017). Starting from the concept
of polarizing brands (Monahan, Espinosa, Ortinau, 2017), Apple can be considered a brand
that is either hated or loved.
Prior exposure to a stimulus, a logo for instance, predisposes an individual to that
stimulus at a later time (Janiszewski and Meyvis, 2001). The processing fluency/attribution
model claims that repeated exposure to a stimulus leads to a representation of the stimulus in
the memory. Thus, at a later time, the memory will facilitate the encoding process and will
make it more fluent, effortless, and unconscious (in Janiszewski and Meyvis, 2001: 19).
Considering the large amount of messages to which a consumer is exposed every day,
all the received information is impossible to be consciously processed. Thus, attention becomes
an expensive and limited resource (Milosavljevic, Cerf, 2008; Teixeira, 2014). Murray et al.
(2013) claim that “attention, when directed to items already encoded in memory, improves the
probability of their recall but does not increase the precision with which they are represented.”
In this respect, the Apple logo can be considered minimalistic and easy to be remembered and
recognized.
Referring to the concept of mental effort, Kahneman (2011) believes that, in most cases,
it can be considered non-comfortable. Therefore, individuals prefer to rely on intuition,
attaching a high degree of trust to it. One of the most well-known experiments is the bat-and-
ball puzzle. Shane Frederick, together with Kahneman (2011), has conducted an experiment in
which the subjects have to solve a very simple math problem. As expected, more than 50% tend
to give an intuitive incorrect answer. One of the explanation refers to the fact that people choose
intuition over rationality, mainly because the task seems to be too simple (Kahneman, 2011).
The same context can hold up in the case of the Apple logo, which is perceived as one of the
simplest logos. In the same respect, increased exposure can lead to an increased level of
recognition (Van Grinsven, Das, 2016). While talking about the preference for simplicity, the
level of involvement of the individual should be brought into discussion. A person owning an
Apple product, or wishing for one, is perhaps more likely to pay more attention to a detail
regarding the brand logo.
Based on the above literature, the present paper begins from the following hypotheses:
H1, H2: Males, in comparison with females (H1), and computer science, in comparison
with social science becoming specialists (H2), are more likely to develop a better recall
and recognition of the Apple logo.
Iancu, I. and Iancu, B. 60
As stated above, there is a puzzle in the literature regarding whether recall and recognition
abilities can be better performed by men or women. Thus, assuming that men are more
interested in technology and are more visually oriented, we claim that men will better recall
and recognize the stimulus.
In the same respect, considering the everyday context, computer science students are
believed to pay much more attention to technology and to its details. By being interested in
state-of-the-art technology, it is assumed that computer science students own Apple devices to
a higher degree than social science ones or are more keen on them. Thus, by being in contact
with an Apple device more often, computer science becoming specialists might recall the logo
more accurately.
H3, H4: Individuals owning an Apple device (H3) and individuals loving the Apple brand
(H4) are more likely to remember (recall and recognition) the logo of the brand
correctly.
In this case, we expect that by being exposed to the Apple logo more often than non-
users, the users will be more capable of drawing and recognizing the logo correctly.
Moreover, by developing a positive emotional association with the brand, individuals
are considered to pay much more attention to the details of the brand.
H5, H6: The confidence level for the recall and recognition phases is higher in the case of
Apple owners (H5) and of the lovers of the brand (H6).
Owning an Apple device, thus being more connected with a logo, individuals are
believed to be more self-confident when recalling and recognizing the Apple logo.
This study can be considered a preamble for further attempts to analyze the impact of
brand exposure and brand perception on recall and recognition. At the same time, taking into
account the case study of the minimalist Apple logo, further research can comparatively
investigate a larger number of brands’ logos, and can emphasize the importance of simplicity
for creating business visual identity.
2. Methodology
2.1 Participants
The experiment was conducted on a number of 198 subjects, out of which 78 are social science
students from the Babes-Bolyai University of Cluj-Napoca, Romania (communication, public
relations, advertising, and journalism) and 120 computer science students from the Technical
University of Cluj-Napoca, Romania. Out of the total sample, 119 are female subjects. Age
range is 18-27, ME=22.4. From the total number of respondents, 27.8% own an iPhone, 5.6%
own a Mac, 2.5% own an iPad, and 2.5% own an iPod. Only 5 respondents are strictly Apple
users, in the sense that they own both an iPhone and a Mac device.
2.2 Procedure
From a methodological standpoint, the present paper is a slight replication of the article entitled
The Apple of the Mind’s Eye: Everyday Attention, Metamemory, and Reconstructive Memory
for the Apple Logo (Blake, Nazarian, Castel, 2015).
Iancu, I. and Iancu, B. 61
The original study employs two different experimental designs. The first experiment
has the following steps: drawing the logo of the Apple brand on a blank sheet of paper, rating
the confidence level of the accuracy of the drawing on a scale from 1 to 10 (where 1 is low
level of confidence and 10 high level of confidence), identifying the right Apple logo from a
set of 8 figures, and rating the confidence level of the choice on a scale from 1 to 10 10 (where
1 is low level of confidence and 10 high level of confidence). The second experiment is similar
to the first one, with the exception of asking the subjects to rate the confidence of being able to
draw the logo before drawing it as well (Blake, Nazarian, Castel, 2015).
As the main above described steps have been followed in the present study, the main
differences from the original paper are the following. First, a single experimental design is
employed, one that implies the evaluation of the confidence level both before and after drawing
the logo, and after the identification of the right logo from the given figures. The reason for
choosing this design relies on the aim of analyzing in a more complex manner the metacognitive
changes in the participants. Second, considering the task in which the subjects are asked to
recognize the right logo from a given set of figures, there have been used 12 situations, instead
of 8. Thus, the goal is that of creating an even more difficult context. Third, after the
experiment, the subjects were asked to answer to a more enlarged set of questions for assessing
the perception over the Apple brand. The main steps followed in the present experiment are
described in more detail in the subsequent phases.
Recall phase
In this phase, the subjects were asked to solve three tasks. First, with no visual connection to
any Apple device or other identification pattern, the subjects, faced with the imaginary situation
of drawing the Apple logo, had to rate their level of confidence that they would draw it accurate.
A scale from 1 to 10 was used (where 1 is low level of confidence and 10 high level of
confidence) to this purpose. Second, without being exposed to the previous given rating, the
subjects were asked to draw the shape of the Apple logo. Finally, they were asked to evaluate
their level of confidence regarding the drawing on a scale from 1 to 10 (where 1 is low level of
confidence and 10 high level of confidence).
Recognition phase
In the second phase, the subjects were asked to choose the right Apple logo shape from a given
set of 12 figures. One set of used figures is presented in the following table. Similarly to the
original study, there were no logos around the experiment room, and the location of the correct
logo in the given set of figures was different each time. After the recognition task, the subjects
assessed the level of confidence for their choice on a scale from 1 to 10 (where 1 is low level
of confidence and 10 high level of confidence).
Table 1. The variations of Apple logos used in the experiment (in this case, the last one is the
right logo)
Iancu, I. and Iancu, B. 62
Use of the brand
The third phase of the experiment refers to the use of the Apple devices. Thus, the respondents
were asked to name the brand of their phone and computer. At the same time, they were asked
whether they own other Apple devices, such as iPad, iPod or Apple Watch. Another question
refers to the situation in which the subject does not own an iPhone; they were asked if they ever
owned an iPhone. The data show that there are only few subjects that own other Apple devices
than the iPhone. Therefore, in the data analysis, the idea of owning an iPhone is much more
considered that owning other Apple devices.
Perception of the brand
The last phase completes the above information with the perception of the Apple brand in order
to correlate it with brand recall and recognition. Thus, the main questions refer to the first word
coming to mind when hearing the name of the Apple brand, to what degree they would like to
own Apple devices (iPhone, Mac, iPad, iPod, and Apple Watch), to what degree they love the
Apple brand, and how satisfactory they find several aspects related to Apple products
(innovation, quality, security, affordability, technical support, size of the device, design of the
device, technical performance, battery life, and connection – available posts).
2.3 Results and discussions
A.
B.
C.
D.
E.
F.
G.
H.
I.
J.
K.
L.
Iancu, I. and Iancu, B. 63
Within the recall phase, there were initiated three tasks to be completed: self-evaluation of the
level of confidence before drawing the logo, the logo drawing, and self-evaluation of the level
of confidence after drawing the logo. The most important task is that of drawing the Apple
logo, from memory, without any visual influence. In this respect, 18.8% (37 respondents) of
the individuals manage to draw the logo perfectly
2
. The entire range of the drawing criteria are
presented in the table below.
Table 2. Recall of the Apple logo for each drawing criteria
General
(%)
Females
(% from the
total
females)
Males
(% from
the total
males)
Social
science
(% from the
total social
science)
Computer
science
(% from the total
computer science)
18.8
14.2
25.6
12.9
22.5
57.4
53.7
62.8
58.4
56.6
91.9
91.5
92.3
89.6
93.3
99
99.1
98.7
100
98.3
99
100
97.4
100
98.3
96.4
96.6
96.1
92.2
99.1
80.7
75.6
88.4
64.9
90.8
83.2
82.3
84.6
74
89.1
97
95.7
98.7
93.5
99.1
74.6
73.1
76.9
66.2
80
57.4
52.9
64.1
46.7
64.1
99
98.3
100
98.7
99.1
60.4
57.1
65.3
64.9
57.5
As the above data show, the respondents do remember separate details of the logo pretty
clearly, but they do not manage to put all of them together. While almost all of the subjects
remember that there is leaf and a bite present, and that the top of the logo is not smooth, only
around half of them manage to represent a nonsmooth bottom. Regarding the bite, more than
80% remember the size of the bite and the fact that it is placed on the right side of the logo.
Considering the leaf, while more than 70% manage to draw the leaf correctly, a little bit more
than half remember the orientation and that fact that it is floating. Therefore, it can be said that
although there are very few individuals that manage to remember the entire logo correctly, there
is an unexpectedly high amount of respondents that remember many details.
The following table presents a sample of the drawings.
Table 3. Sample drawings from the recall phase and the level of confidence before and after
the drawing
2
When claiming that the logo was drawn perfectly, it means that all the components of the logo were correctly
considered. In most of the cases, the logo does not totally overlap with the original shape, due to different drawing
procedures or talents. However, all theses drawings were regarded as correct, because they meet all the established
criteria.
Iancu, I. and Iancu, B. 64
As the table shows, the drawing features vary significantly. For all the subjects, it is clear that
the logo of the Apple brand represents an apple. However, based on the individual talent and
level of recall, the features are different. In addition, the above sample show the way the level
of confidence evolves from the moment before the drawing to the moment after the drawing.
There can be mentioned several situations: the level of confidence stagnates, the level of
confidence increases or the level of confidence decreases. Nonetheless, it is interesting to
observe how the level of confidence fluctuates, taking into account the way the logo is drawn.
There are cases in which the logo is meaningfully biased, but the level of confidence is very
high. In the same respect, there are cases in which the logo is almost perfectly drawn, but the
level of confidence is very low or decreases.
Although there is indeed a higher percentage of men drawing the logo correctly, when
it comes to details, the differences between the two sexes are minimal. Pretty significant
differences can be observed only in the case of the smoothness of the bottom, of the bite size,
of the leaf orientation, and of the leaf floating. Yet, this does not mean that the hypothesis is
validated.
A pretty similar situation resides in the case of specialization. Although the expectation
shows that a computer science background would lead to a better recall of the details of
technological symbol, the differences between social and computer science are not significant.
While computer scientists have better capacity to recall the bite size and location, the leaf shape
and orientation, the social scientists better recall the idea of a floating leaf. It can be emphasized
that computer science specialists might be more keen on visual identities belonging to
technology. However, this hypothesis must be further tested.
In order to assess a broader overview on the data, the capacity of drawing the logo correctly is
correlated with other variables as well. Thus, while correlated with the level of confidence
before drawing the logo, only 4 individuals (10.8%) rate themselves with the grade 10, 8
individuals with 9 (21.6%), and 7 with 8 (18.9%). The majority of the people drawing the logo
Iancu, I. and Iancu, B. 65
perfectly rate themselves with 7 (24.3%). However, a correlation between these two variables
is not significant.
Starting from the premise that the level of confidence can grow after the drawing
execution, the data show that, this time, the majority of respondents drawing the logo perfectly
rate themselves with the grade 8 (27%). The ones graded with 10 are only 3 (8.1%), the ones
graded with 9 are 6 (16.2%), similar with the case of grade 7 (Contingency Coefficient=.275,
sig.=.064).
Out of the people that drew the logo perfectly, 81.1% chose the right logo among the
given figures (Phi.=.402, sig.=.000). Interestingly, 43.2% out of those drawing a perfect logo
rate themselves with the grade 10 for the level of confidence after choosing the logo. However,
we cannot talk of a strong correlation between these two variables.
Regarding the brand of the phone they own, 27% from the ones that draw the logo
perfectly own an iPhone, while 37.8% own a Samsung
3
. Thus, one cannot say that owning a
device from a certain brand does necessarily imply remembering the details of the logo in all
its details. In the same respect, the level of love for the brand has no significant correlation with
the recall of the logo. More than half of the participants drawing the logo perfectly (56.7%)
claim that they love the Apple brand only to a small degree or not at all.
Concluding, one cannot infer that there is a certain mix of variables that determine the
capacity of recalling a simplistic logo perfectly. Moreover, while there is no emphasized detail,
one cannot predict which details are going to be better remembered. The data also show that
there is no relevant correlation between the recall and recognition of the logo and the level of
satisfaction with the brand.
Considering the recognition phase, from the total number of subjects, 39.9% manage
to choose the right logo from the given alternatives. Comparing this percentage with the one
reflecting the subjects drawing the logo correctly, one can notice a significant increase. Thus,
it can be admitted that, while having a visual aid, although there is a wide range of incorrect
alternatives, the choice is easier. Most probably, through existing visual comparison, the
subjects do recall several features better.
Table 4. Recognition of the Apple logo
General
(%)
Females
(% from the
total females)
Males
(% from the
total males)
Social science
(% from the total
social science)
Computer
science
(% from the total
computer science)
The choice is correct
39.9
42
36.7
40.2
40
When correlating the recognition phase with sex and specialization, the data show a similar
situation as in the case of recall. However, a pretty important difference resides in the fact that
women tend to better recognize the Apple logo. When it comes to specialization, almost the
same percentage of social and computer scientists choose the right logo.
The capacity to recognize the correct logo is not significantly correlated with the level
of love for the brand. It can only be said that 34 (17.17% from the total number of the subjects)
from the ones choosing the right logo love the brand to a high and very high degree. In the same
respect, although expecting a different result, owning an iPhone does not predict a better
recognition capacity.
Comparing the logo recall and the logo recognition phases, the data show that out of the total
number of subjects, 37 draw the correct logo and choose the right one at the same time.
Moreover, 10 individuals recall the logo correctly, but do not recognize the right one.
3
The rest of the specified brands do not have significant percentages. That is the reason why only Apple and
Samsung are mentioned in the analysis.
Iancu, I. and Iancu, B. 66
Besides recall and recognition, the level of confidence is an important variable that can
generate knowledge on human behavior. The level of confidence was tested in three different
moments of the experimental approach: before drawing the Apple logo, after drawing the Apple
logo and after choosing the Apple logo. The following figure shows, in a comparative manner,
the fluctuation of the level of confidence in the recall phase.
Figure 1. A comparison between the level of confidence in the recall phase (before drawing
the logo and after drawing the logo)
There is a higher number of individuals that rate themselves within the top part of the
confidence scale (grades between 7 and 10). In the case of the level of confidence before the
drawing, the grades are, in general, higher than in the case of the level of confidence after
drawing the logo. This situation can be explained through a higher level of desirable self trust
before knowing that one is going to be asked to perform a task than after seeing the results of
the task (the drawing per se).
In the case of the level of confidence in the recognition phase, the average grade is even
higher than in the case of the recall phrase, as it can be seen in Figure 2 (ME before drawing =
6.79, SD= 2.197; ME after drawing = 5.85, SD=2.388; ME after the choice = 7.69, SD=1.974).
Figure 2. A comparison between the average confidence grades for the recall and recognition
phrases
Comparing the logo recall and the logo recognition phases, the data show that out of
the total number of subjects, 37 draw the correct logo and choose the right one at the same
time. Moreover, 10 recall the logo correctly but do not recognize the right one.
Besides recall and recognition, the level of confidence is an important variable that
can generate knowledge on the human behavior. The level of confidence has been tested in
three different moments of the experimental approach: before drawing the Apple log, after
drawing the Apple logo and after choosing the Apple logo. The following figure show, in a
comparative manner, the fluctuation of the level of confidence the recall phase.
Figure 1. A comparison between the level of confidence in the recall phase (before drawing
the logo and after drawing the logo)
0,0
5,0
10,0
15,0
20,0
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
A comparison between the level of confidence
before and after drawing the Apple logo
(valid percent)
confidence before drawing the logo confidence after drawing the logo
As it can be observed, there is a higher number of individuals that rate themselves
within the top part of the confidence scale (grades between 7 and 10). In the case of the level
of confidence before the drawing, the grades are, in general, higher than in the case of the
level of confidence after drawing the logo. This situation can be explained through a higher
level of desirable self trust before knowing that one is going to be asked to perform a task
than after seeing the results of the task (the drawing per se).
In the case of the level of confidence in the recognition phase, the average grade is
even higher than in the case of the recall phrase, as it can be seen in the Figure 2 (ME before
drawing = 6.79, SD= 2.197; ME after drawing = 5.85, SD=2.388; ME after the choice = 7.69,
SD=1.974).
Figure 2. A comparison between the average confidence grades for the recall and recognition
phrases
The explanation might be at least dual. On one hand, after passing the first task of
drawing the logo, individuals might become self-trustier. On the other hand, being able to
The evolution of the mean level of confidence based on
three given situations
5,85
6,79 7,69
0
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
mean before drawing mean after drawing mean after the choice
Iancu, I. and Iancu, B. 67
The explanation might be at least dual. On the one hand, after passing the first task of drawing
the logo, individuals might become self-trustier. On the other hand, being able to actually see
the logo variations, although being exposed to eleven incorrect alternatives, the subjects might
believe their choice is accurate, especially in comparison with other given logo alternatives.
The level of confidence before drawing the logo is positively and strongly correlated
with the level of confidence after drawing the logo (Spearman=.742, sig.=.000). It implies that
individuals tend to be consistent with the grades they have used for assessing the recall of the
logo before and after drawing it. A similar situation seems to be present when it comes to
correlating the recall levels of confidence with the recognition level of confidence. While the
correlation between the level of confidence before drawing and the level of confidence after
the choice has the coefficient Spearman of .614 (sig.=.000), the correlation between the level
of confidence after drawing and the level of confidence after choosing has the coefficient
Spearman of .556 (sig.=.000). The respondents do not seem to be significantly biased when
being shown variations of the logo. They tend to assess themselves in the recognition situation
in a similar manner as in the case of the recall situation.
When the “love for the brand” variable is introduced in the analysis, the data show that
it is significant, but poorly correlated with the level of confidence before the drawing
(Spearman=.184, sig.=.010) and after the choice (Spearman=.163, sig.=.022). Therefore, the
cult for the brand does not necessarily imply a high level of confidence on recalling and
recognition of the Apple brand.
Although the data show no significant correlation between owning an iPhone and the
level of confidence before drawing the logo, one can emphasize that there are 72.7% iPhone
owners with confidence levels higher than 7, by contrast to only 58% non-owners with the same
confidence level. In this case, it might be said that, rarely, owning an Apple device gives a user
the confidence that they recall the details of the logo properly.
However, regarding the level of confidence after drawing the logo, owning an Apple
device does not make the difference. The same amount of individuals (43.6%) from each
category (owners and non-owners) has a level of confidence higher that 7. Contrary to
expectations, there are no significant correlations between the levels of confidence, before and
after drawing the logo, and the sex and specialization of the respondents.
3. Conclusion
Comparing the logo recall and the logo recognition phases, the data show that out of
the total number of subjects, 37 draw the correct logo and choose the right one at the same
time. Moreover, 10 recall the logo correctly but do not recognize the right one.
Besides recall and recognition, the level of confidence is an important variable that
can generate knowledge on the human behavior. The level of confidence has been tested in
three different moments of the experimental approach: before drawing the Apple log, after
drawing the Apple logo and after choosing the Apple logo. The following figure show, in a
comparative manner, the fluctuation of the level of confidence the recall phase.
Figure 1. A comparison between the level of confidence in the recall phase (before drawing
the logo and after drawing the logo)
0,0
5,0
10,0
15,0
20,0
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
A comparison between the level of confidence
before and after drawing the Apple logo
(valid percent)
confidence before drawing the logo confidence after drawing the logo
As it can be observed, there is a higher number of individuals that rate themselves
within the top part of the confidence scale (grades between 7 and 10). In the case of the level
of confidence before the drawing, the grades are, in general, higher than in the case of the
level of confidence after drawing the logo. This situation can be explained through a higher
level of desirable self trust before knowing that one is going to be asked to perform a task
than after seeing the results of the task (the drawing per se).
In the case of the level of confidence in the recognition phase, the average grade is
even higher than in the case of the recall phrase, as it can be seen in the Figure 2 (ME before
drawing = 6.79, SD= 2.197; ME after drawing = 5.85, SD=2.388; ME after the choice = 7.69,
SD=1.974).
Figure 2. A comparison between the average confidence grades for the recall and recognition
phrases
The explanation might be at least dual. On one hand, after passing the first task of
drawing the logo, individuals might become self-trustier. On the other hand, being able to
The evolution of the mean level of confidence based on
three given situations
5,85
6,79
7,69
0
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
mean before drawing mean after drawing mean after the choice
Iancu, I. and Iancu, B. 68
The original study finds that although there is a poor level of recall and recognition, the subjects
seem to be confident in their performance, probably due to the simplistic perception of the
Apple logo. Thus, usually, the individuals tend to think that they will perform better than they
actually do (Blake, Nazarian, Castel, 2015). Although there has been introduced a wider range
of variables (as sex or specialization), the present study comes to similar conclusions. There is
a small amount of individuals that are able to correctly recall and recognize the logo of Apple
brand. However, although there are very few individuals that manage to remember the entire
logo accurately, there is an unexpectedly high amount of respondents that remember many
features of the logo.
The level of recognition is higher than the level of recall. A possible explanation might
be that, while visualizing a set of varieties of the same logo, although almost all incorrect, the
probability to recall features of the original logo increases.
Another interesting result shows that the average level of confidence decreases in the
first two moments of the experimental approach. Thus, on a scale from 1 to 10, it evolves from
6.79 before drawing to 5.85 after drawing. In this respect, after being asked to actually draw
the Apple logo, and after seeing it is not an easy as expected task, it is likely that the subject
will become more self-conscious. In the case of the recognition phase, the average level of
confidence is even higher than initially (7.69), meaning again that, if the logos are visible,
although incorrect, the self-trust is higher.
Although it was expected that men and computer scientists would perform better in both
recall and recognition phases, the data show no significant correlation between these variables
(H1 and H2 are invalidated). The same situation fits for the owners of Apple devices and lovers
of the brand (H3 and H4 are invalidated). They do not seem to have better competencies in
drawing and recognizing the Apple logo. However, there is a slight positive correlation between
Apple owners and lovers and the level of confidence (H5 and H6 partially validated). This
implies that by owning an iPhone for instance, the subjects develop a higher level of self-
confidence related to the features of the owned brand.
If we were to extrapolate these specific conclusions, one might say that, in the case of a
minimalist element, whether it is a marketing symbol or something else, the combination of
variables that can lead to recalling and recognizing those elements should be further
investigated in a wider range of contexts. The premise stating that the level of minimalism of
an element is positively correlated with recall and recognition needs supplementary analysis.
For instance, by increasing the number of analyzed logos, the relevance of minimalism in
marketing, especially for marketing specialist and logo designers, can be more
comprehensively assessed.
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Article
  • Jan 2008
Attention is a critical construct for anyone involved in marketing. However, research on attention is currently lacking in the marketing discipline. This is perhaps due to inherent difficulties in measuring attention. The current paper accentuates the importance of better understanding attention, and suggests studying attention as a two-component construct consisting of equally important bottom-up and top-down processes. While research on top-down attention has recently been undertaken by Pieters and Wedel (2004; 2007), the current paper introduces the field of computational neuroscience and its research on visual attention as a useful framework for studying bottom-up attention.
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Gender differences in memory for object and word locations
Article
  • Jun 2006
It has been hypothesized that gender differences in visuo-spatial working memory (VSWM) are larger in tasks requiring active elaboration of the material. In the present study we explored this issue by using an object relocation task, with both verbal and visual stimuli. The involvement of active processes was manipulated through the type of transformation required on the stimulus and through the introduction of different kinds of interference. In the three experiments reported, participants were shown either words or cartoon object icons in different locations and had to relocate them in either the same format or in the opposite one (object icons could be transformed into words and vice versa). Males outperformed females in the most demanding conditions, in which object icons and words were presented together in the encoding phase, and both had to be transformed in the recall phase; or when more demanding interferences were used. Our data suggest that the retention strategy was similar for the two groups and that the gender effect is related to a selective female difficulty associated with the increase in active VSWM processing. These findings further support the hypothesized distinction between the passive and active components of VSWM and illustrate the role that this distinction might play in accounting for individual differences.
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Here's how Apple's iPhone sales break down by region
  • Mar 2017
  • Jeff Dunn
Dunn, Jeff (March 2017) Here's how Apple's iPhone sales break down by region. Business Insider. Retrieved from http://www.businessinsider.com/apple-iphone-sales-region-chinachart-2017-3. Accessed on November 2017.