The Korea Local Administration Review

The purpose of this study is to examine the visual characteristics of logos in SouthKorean cities and to investigate individuals' cognitive, affective, and behavioralresponses to the city logos. As a major visual symbol representing the city's identity,a city logo is often presented in various channels and vehicles. An analysis of 162city logos showed that the amount of city logos in the iconic/indexical mode (53%)was larger than those in the symbolic mode (40%) although the number of symboliclogos was not ignorable. A huge similarity was found because the vast majority oficonic/indexical logos represented the natural objects, such as mountain, river/sea,and the sun, which blurred the city's own characteristics and identity. Depending onthe three logo types (symbolic, iconic/indexical, and typographical), individuals'responses (e.g., correct recognition, affection, intention to visit the city, etc.) wereanalyzed. Based on the results, a guideline for and insights into the effective use ofcity logos are discus sed.
□ Keywords: city logos, CI strategy, logo evaluation, city identity, city branding