Darker Logos Are Seen as For‐Profits and Lighter Logos as Nonprofits

ABSTRACT Consumers infer an organization's identity from visual cues to form judgments about its purpose. This study shows that logo color lightness serves as a signal of organizational orientation: consumers perceive lighter‐colored logos as representing nonprofits, and darker‐colored logos as representing for‐profits. Further, consumers are less willing to donate when lighter‐colored logos are paired with luxury positioning, due to visual‐conceptual incongruence. This study highlights the importance of subtle design elements such as logo color lightness in shaping consumer inferences about organizational identity and willingness to donate.