New publication in the journal "Cognitive Research: Principles and Implications"
18 September 2023, by Celestina Hermida da Costa
Ke, S. C., Gupta, A., Lo, Y. H., Ting, C. C., Post-Doc in the general psychology team at the University of Hamburg, and Tseng, P. published the article “The hidden arrow in the FedEx logo: Do we really unconsciously see it?” in the journal ‘Cognitive Research: Principles and Implications’.
An “invisible” arrow nestled within the background space between the letters 'E' and 'x' in the FedEx logo has been thought to subtly convey an impression of speed and precision associated with the FedEx brand. This hidden element is believed to exert an unconscious influence on subsequent behaviors. In this article, the authors tested this assumption empirically by creating similar images with hidden arrows, designed to serve as endogenous directional cues in a Posner's orienting task. Across four experiments, the result showed two main findings. First, participants do not unconsciously perceive the FedEx arrow, at least not enough to exhibit a cueing effect in attention. Second, knowing about the arrow can fundamentally change the way of processing these negative-space logos in the future, making people react faster to images with negative space regardless of the hidden content.