Cross-cultural logo perception: A comparative study of NGO’s logo with three levels of verbal anchoring among Brazilians and Americans.

Abstract

This cross-cultural research investigated the effect of three levels of verbal anchoring with NGO logos on Brazilian and American participants through an online experiment. The material was composed of logos without verbal anchoring, with the organization’s name, and with the slogan and organization’s name as complete verbal anchoring. While it posed a research question of a different ambiguity tolerance between the two nationalities given that the different levels of verbal anchoring entail varied levels of message explicitness, the paper did not achieve significant results in regards to their ToA. The more complete conditions of verbal anchoring influenced positively the participants’ intention to donate, attitude towards charitable organizations, perceived value logos fit of one of the NGOs selected, and processing fluency. Additionally, the Brazilian sample presented a significantly higher logo appreciation, intention to donate, and attitude toward charitable organizations than the American sample. Finally, unable to identify significant interactions between the two nationalities and the levels of verbal anchoring, the paper’s findings highlight the importance of considering cultural differences in marketing strategies and branding for non-profit organizations.