What Logo Styles Do Consumers Trust Most? [Infographic]

A trusted logo is a key part of every brand, but what makes a logo trustworthy?

Venngage and SurveyMonkey teamed up to do some of the hard work for us.

By surveying over 1000 adults in the US, they were able to compile a series of data on how people responded to different logos and colors in six different industries: jewelry, retail, financial services, law firm, news/media, and technology.

In this study, viewers were presented with six variations of each logo and asked to pick the logo style that felt most trustworthy.

Users were also surveyed on top words to describe the logos for each industry, as well as most trusted color schemes for each industry.

Do Different Genders React Differently?

The results for these particular industries showed no difference in preference between men and women.

“The results may differ if we were to test brands marketed towards a specific gender (such as beauty products) where people have an expectation of what design choices indicate a feminine vs. masculine product,” says McGuire.

Do Different Ages React Differently?

The study found that generally different age groups react similarly to logo styles.

The only clear differentiator being the financial and news industries where consumers aged 60 and older gravitated toward logo styles and color schemes that were similar to well-renowned logos within that industry.

Is There a Trust Bias?

When looking at color schemes viewers, most often selected color schemes that were popular to that industry.

McGuire writes, “...there’s a potential lesson here: people may be inclined to trust logos with color schemes that resemble of logos they have seen in the same industry.”

“I want to stand out.”

When working on logo redesign projects I often hear, “I want my logo to be different” or “I want my logo to stand out from the competition.”

As it turns out, this may not be such a good thing. Differing from the broad trends of the industry might actually make your brand appear LESS trustworthy.

When reviewing financial and news media logos consumers, for example, age 60+ preferred color schemes that included red and blue, which are familiar to long standing brands (like CNN, Fox News, and Bank of America) that already have a high level of established trust.

Something to consider before you commit to your logo overhaul...

Is attempting to break the mold of the industry with your logo worth the risk of losing the consumers trust in your brand?

If brands like Gap and Yahoo can end up in a media fiasco over a logo redesign gone wrong, I certainly don’t think it’s worth the risk.

This Is Just The Tip of the Iceberg...

Check out the summary of the survey below and to see the full study including mini-infographics for each industry, head over to the full post on the Venngage.