Understanding Consumer Response to the Olympic Visual Identity Designs

Abstract: Visual identity designs are frequently used as branding tools to build or modify images of sport event and its host destination and to help consumers to identify the event and its host destination. To measure the effectiveness of the Olympic Games visual identity designs regarding their branding values, this study focused on logo design and built a framework based on design studies, image formation studies, and information transfer studies to capture the effects of design messages on consumer evaluations of event image, destination images, and logo representativeness. A 2 (absence and presence of event design message) x 2 (absence and presence of destination design message) x 2 (absence and presence of athletic movement design message) x 2 (nationality) x 2 (gender) experimental design was employed to test the effects of design messages on evaluations of the Olympic Games image, the host destination image, as well as the logo representativeness. The research findings show that the effects of design messages on event image and the host city image were asymmetrical and were limited to certain image dimensions. Design messages of the event, the host city, and athletic movement didn’t significantly influence consumer evaluation of the host city image, but design messages of the event and the host city did affect event type image dimension. Moreover, in general, design messages of the event and the host city can also benefit consumer evaluations of logo representativeness.
This study also tested the relationships between evaluations of event image, destination image, logo representativeness and consumer behavioral intentions regarding the event and its destination. Findings suggest that effects of design messages on evaluations of event and host city images are limited and asymmetrical. In general, both event design message and destination design message contributed to logo representativeness of the event and destination. The importance of evaluations of event image, destination image, and logo representativeness on consumer behavioral responses vary depends on consumer behavioral intentions are destination related or event related. Furthermore, the moderating effects of culture and gender were found in this study on evaluations of event image and destination image, as well as consumer decision-making process.