Beyond Beauty: Design Symmetry and Brand Personality

Our research explores connections between a fundamental element of visual design, namely symmetry, and consumer inferences regarding brand personality. In contrast to prior work focused on broad affective responses, we propose that symmetry plays an additional, nuanced role in the communication of brand personality. Results of four experiments reveal that asymmetry in visual brand elements is associated by consumers with brand excitement, and that the effect is driven in part by the experience of subjective arousal. These findings contribute to growing interest in visual design and consumer processing, while extending current understanding regarding the communication of brand personality.