By IANS
New York : Whether you are a Mac person or a PC person, even a brief exposure to the Apple logo may make you behave more creatively, according to a new study.
Most people are exposed to thousands of brand images daily and it is assumed this does not affect those exposed in any way. But the new study has demonstrated that even fleeting glimpses of logos can affect people quite dramatically, ScienceDaily reported.
The study, by Duke and Waterloo University researchers, has been published in the forthcoming issue of the Journal of Consumer Research.
To assess the effects of brands on behaviour, the researchers selected two competing brands, both well respected by consumers, with distinct and well-defined brand personalities.
“Apple has worked for many years to develop a brand character associated with nonconformity, innovation and creativity,” said Tanya Chartrand, co-author of the study. “And IBM is viewed by consumers as traditional, smart and responsible.”
The team conducted an experiment in which 341 university students completed what they believed was a visual acuity task, during which either the Apple or IBM logo was flashed so quickly that they were unaware they had been exposed to the brand logo. The participants then completed a task designed to evaluate how creative they were, listing all of the uses for a brick that they could imagine beyond building a wall.
People who were exposed to the Apple logo generated significantly more unusual uses for the brick compared with those who were primed with the IBM logo, the researchers said.
In addition, the unusual uses the Apple-primed participants generated were rated as more creative by independent judges.
“This is the first clear evidence that subliminal brand exposures can cause people to act in very specific ways,” said Gráinne Fitzsimons, also a co-author of the study.
Other than their defined brand personalities, the researchers argue there is not anything unusual about Apple and IBM that causes this effect.
“These experiments demonstrate that most brands that have strong associations with particular traits could have the capacity to influence how we act,” Chartrand said.
The researchers note practical implications of their work for both consumers and marketers.
“Instead of spending the majority of their money on traditional print and television advertising, companies with established brand associations such as Apple may want to give serious consideration to shifting more marketing resources to product placement opportunities and other forms of outreach that emphasise brief brand exposures,” Fitzsimons said.