The Impact of Brand Design on Social Group Recognition and Participation in Chinese Education NGOs: An Analysis Utilizing the KANO Model

Abstract

Brand design has become an essential tool for many Chinese educational NGOs to enhance their competitiveness and influence. However, the optimization of brand design to boost the influence of these NGOs has received little attention. This study utilizes four brand design concepts—cognitive design, emotional design, social design, and functional design—as influencing factors, with social group recognition and participation of Chinese educational NGOs serving as the criteria for measuring influence. Based on the KANO model, it identifies new driving mechanisms and constructs a theoretical model illustrating how brand design affects the social group recognition and participation of these NGOs. By assessing the impact of cognitive design, emotional design, social design, and functional design on the branding effect of Chinese NGOs, this study aims to establish new pathways for brand design within these organizations. The research is carried out through empirical studies using collected questionnaire data. It employs a survey method, initially distributing 84 questionnaires to a social organization in Henan, China, for preliminary research, followed by collecting random questionnaires from government agencies, NGOs, universities, and other participants, totaling 435 responses. According to the analysis results, emotional design has the strongest impact on social group recognition. When designing brands, Chinese NGOs should prioritize enhancing emotional design to achieve emotional resonance with the social group, which will help improve the NGOs’ social recognition and increase participation from the community. Cognitive design follows in importance, followed by social design. Functional design does not significantly impact the social recognition of NGOs in China, which aligns with the current social development situation in the country. In brand design, functionality is not heavily emphasized in China.