UPPERCASE feels competent, lowercase feels warm

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📝 Intro

You’re in charge of marketing for a B2B productivity software - noter - and are considering whether your brand name correctly reflects your strategy and positioning. 

With your clientele mostly large corporations, you want to be perceived as professional and highly competent, but worry your current lowercase logo and name - noter - might not fit your desired brand image.

It feels too… Friendly.

Science says your gut feelings might be right, but there’s more to it.

P.S.: If you want to learn how to create the most effective brand name according to the latest evidence, you can use the Science-based Playbook of Brand Names. Exclusively available, for $0, to Science Says Platform members.

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Brands in UPPERCASE letters seem distant and efficient, those with lowercase seem close and sincere

Topics: Brand & Strategy | Messaging & Copy
For: B2C. Can be tested for B2B
Research date: November 2021
Universities: Jiangnan University, University of Guelph

📈 Recommendation

Use uppercase letters for your brand name to be perceived as competent and professional or if your target audience is a culture that values hierarchies and order (e.g. Japan, China).

Use lowercase letters if you want to seem friendly and warm. This works best in countries where people favor equality (e.g. USA, Europe).

🎓 Findings

• People perceive logos and names with all uppercase letters as more competent and logos with all lowercase letters as more friendly.

• In 4 experiments, researchers found that people perceived: 

  • An unfamiliar brand as 52% more competent and distant when written in uppercase (NOTA), and 68.8% warmer or friendlier and closer when written in lowercase (nota)

  • A familiar brand as 7.2% more competent when it was written with uppercase (MOTOROLA), and 12% warmer when it was written in lowercase (motorola)

• The effect is stronger when the style of the font (uppercase or lowercase) matches a cultural appreciation towards either equality of hierarchy:

  • Americans (a culture considered more inclined towards equality and resisting hierarchies) perceived a brand as 16% warmer when its name was written entirely in lowercase. Whether the brand’s name was written entirely in upper or lowercase did not impact how competent they viewed the brand.

  • In contrast, Chinese (a more hierarchical culture) considered a brand 11.2% more competent when its name was written in uppercase, but judged the brand equally warm when its name was written in upper or lowercase.

🧠 Why it works

• Font features (e.g. typeface, tilt) change how we feel towards brands (e.g. handwritten fonts give a sense of human touch).

• We see uppercase letters as authoritative and powerful because they are often used in warnings (e.g. “NO SMOKING”, “KEEP QUIET” or “CAUTION”).

• On the other hand, we perceive lowercase letters as closer to us because they are used more frequently in our daily life.

• This also shapes our brand perceptions. When we perceive something as distant from us, it triggers power perceptions, meaning we consider it as more authoritative and competent, while when something feels closer, we consider it friendly and sincere.

• When we believe everyone should be equal, we’re more sensitive to signs of closeness and warmth. This leads us to prefer lowercase logos, as they feel friendlier and more approachable, aligning with our values.

• When we accept power hierarchies and value status, we’re more sensitive to symbols of authority. In this case, we’re more drawn to uppercase logos, as they signal competence, power, and prestige, matching our preference for hierarchy and social order.

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✋ Limitations

• This study only looked at complete capitalization or complete lowercase names, it did not consider how title case impacts brand perceptions (e.g. Krispy Kreme).

• The research also did not consider other design elements (e.g. color and font type) which could change how people perceive brands.

• It wasn’t looked at, but it’s likely that different age groups or social classes would also have different preferences for hierarchy or equality, impacting their preference for upper or lowercase fonts.

🏢 Companies using this

• Companies seem to be using capitalization in logos to align with their industry and brand image.

  • Luxury brands like GUCCI often use uppercase logos to create and maintain perceptions of distance and authority.

  • More accessible brands like Adidas use lowercase letters in their logo design making them feel warmer and closer.

• Some brands like Pepsi transitioned from uppercase to lowercase logos, while others like NIKE went in the opposite directions. These changes aligned with their brand image strategy (e.g. NIKE aimed to look more premium).

• Brands often pair capitalization with other design elements that convey the same brand image. For instance, healthy energy drink poppy uses lower cases, playful font, bright colours and imagery to create a feeling of friendliness and warmth.

• B2B brands don’t seem to be choosing capitalization strategically. For instance, Accenture opted for lowercases logo whilst being a highly distant and competent brand. On the other hand, SEMRUSH, has a very friendly and warm brand image, but opted for an uppercase logo.

In a recent rebrand, jaguar switched from capital letters to all lowercase. This seems to be an attempt at creating a friendlier, younger, more approachable brand - even though this clashes with its premium image.

⚡ Steps to implement

• Consider your brand image and how you want to align your brand name and logo to your industry or customers’ culture.

• Use all lowercase for your brand name if:

  • Your industry or products are more common and friendliness is more important (e.g. toys or everyday items)

  • Your brand strategy is to come across as friendly and warm

  • You want to focus on markets and audiences that seem to favor equality over hierarchy and order (e.g. Western European and North American markets)

• Use all uppercase for your brand name if:

  • You’re in the luxury or premium spaces (uppercase is perceived as premium) or an industry where professionalism and competence are key factors (e.g. cybersecurity, consulting)

  • Your preferred brand image is competent and professional

  • You want to appeal to customers in markets where hierarchy and social order are highly valued (e.g. Brazil, Japan, Middle East)

• Consider how other characteristics (e.g. colors, fonts) align with your strategy. For instance, use handwritten fonts to communicate warmth and humaneness, while avoiding this for functional or professional products.

🔍 Study type

Online experiments.

📖 Research

The effects of uppercase vs. lowercase letters on consumers’ perceptions and brand attitudes. Journal of Business Research (November 2021)

🏫 Researchers

• Lefa Teng. Jiangnan University

• Chenxin Xie. Jiangnan University

• Tianjiao Liu. Jiangnan University

• Fan Wang. Jiangnan University

• Lianne Foti. University of Guelph

Remember: This is a scientific discovery. In the future it will probably be better understood and could even be proven wrong (that’s how science works). It may also not be generalizable to your situation. If it’s a risky change, always test it on a small scale before rolling it out widely.

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🎓 It took 3 of us 11.5 hours to accurately turn this 12 page research paper into this 3min insight. 

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