From the consumer perspective: design methods and marketing strategies for brand cartoon characters

In the highly competitive consumer market, brand cartoon characters (BCC) play a crucial role in reaching and converting consumers. Taking game brands as an example, this study develops and validates a set of consumer-oriented design and evaluation methods for BCC while proposing corresponding marketing strategies. First, design elements were extracted through a literature review and expert interviews (n = 3). Based on the FKANO questionnaire (n = 120), these elements were classified, and four design schemes were formulated accordingly. Next, the entropy weight method was employed to calculate and rank the weights of the design elements; combined with expert ratings (n = 10), the VIKOR method was applied to select the optimal design scheme. Finally, an eye-tracking experiment (n = 20) was conducted to evaluate the effectiveness of the optimal scheme in attracting users’ attention. The results indicate that factors such as color schemes (V₁) and shape outlines (V₂) have the highest weights and exert the most significant impact on users’ attention and evaluation, with Scheme 4 identified as the optimal one. Additionally, the eye-tracking results are consistent with subjective attractiveness scores. Based on these findings, hierarchical design and marketing strategies characterized by “creating visual anchors, penetrating emotional narratives, and extending scenario-based communication” are proposed. This study demonstrates that the data-driven process can provide reliable consumer insights and decision-making support for the development of BCC.