来源：《哈佛商业评论》2023年3月4月双月刊
Companies often spend millions on the design of their logo in the hope of differentiating their brand, building loyalty, and boosting overall performance. A new study finds another reason to get the logo right: It can cushion the brand in the event of a corporate transgression. Across five experiments, the researchers showed that a cute design—one with babylike features—can inspire consumers to “take care of” the brand if it comes under attack.
公司通常会在标识设计上花费数百万美元，希望能让自己的品牌与众不同，建立忠诚度，提高整体业绩。一项新的研究发现了设计好标识的另一个原因：它可以在企业违规时缓冲对品牌的攻击。在五个实验中，研究人员表明，一个可爱的设计——具有婴儿般的特征——可以激励消费者在品牌受到攻击时“照顾”它。
In the first experiment, participants saw one of two versions of a logo for a fictitious pharmaceutical company: a cat with a high or a low level of cuteness. Some in each group were told that to increase profits, the firm was raising prices by 300% (putting its drugs out of some patients’ reach); the others were told that prices would be stable. All were then surveyed about their desire to punish the company and whether it deserved to be treated compassionately and protected from harm. Among those who were told about the price increase, participants who saw the cute logo were far less likely to want to punish the firm, and they expressed more interest in protecting it. (Among those told that prices weren’t changing, the cuteness of the logo did not affect responses.)
在第一个实验中，参与者看到了一个虚构的制药公司的两个版本的标识：标识图案都是猫，但两个版本的可爱程度不同。每组中的一部分人被告知，为了增加利润，公司将价格提高300%(使一些患者买不起药物)；其余人被告知价格将会稳定。然后，所有人都接受了关于惩罚该公司的意愿的调查，以及该公司是否值得得到同情的对待和保护。在被告知价格上涨的参与者中，看到可爱标识的参与者不太想要惩罚该公司，他们更有兴趣保护它。(在那些被告知价格不会变化的人当中，可爱的标识并没有影响他们的反应。)
Subsequent experiments featured logos based on bears and birds and involved various transgressions, such as withholding workers’ overtime pay. They obtained similar results and showed that participants interpreted cute logos to mean that the brands in question were—as infants are—still malleable and thus deserved to be forgiven. However, forgiveness waned if the transgression was severe or repeated. “Brands can use cute appeals to reduce the potential issue of consumer punishment...as such appeals highlight that the brand is still learning,” the researchers write. “For a company planning to enter an industry where consumers frequently complain about a product or service (e.g., tele-communications)...the brand could use cute appeals from the beginning.”
随后的实验以熊和鸟为标识，并涉及各种违规行为，如扣发工人加班费。研究人员得到了类似的结果，并表明参与者将可爱的标识理解为有问题的品牌——就像婴儿一样——仍然具有可塑性，因此值得原谅。然而，如果违法行为严重或反复发生，宽恕就会减弱。“品牌可以利用可爱的魅力来减少潜在的消费者惩罚问题……这样的魅力凸显出该品牌仍在学习。”“对于计划进入一个消费者经常抱怨产品或服务的行业(例如，电信)的公司来说……该品牌从一开始就可以利用可爱的魅力。”