Gestalt Principles in Destination Logos and Their Influence on People's Recognition and Intention to Visit a Country

Abstract

This study sought to determine the influence of gestalt principles exhibited in destination logos on audience’s the extent to which they recognize the country based on its tourism icon and intention to visit a country. A total of 154 logos were collected from the websites of 116 countries, and were rated based on the degree to which six gestalt principles (similarity, proximity, continuity, figure-ground, closure, assimilation) were present in each. Based on the scores, the logos were classified as having high, medium and low gestalt attributes. Two representative logos for each level were selected. An online survey of undergraduate students was conducted to determine the influence of these gestalt traits on recognition and people’s intention to visit the country being promoted. The results reveal that high- and medium-gestalt logos elicited greater recognition to visit compared to their low-gestalt counterparts. High-gestalt logos also produced stronger intention to visit than the symbols with medium- and low-gestalt attributes.