A Checklist for Determining the Ethos of Online Brand Mascots In order to more clearly identify how specific graphical aspects of mascots can illustrate their levels intelligence, character, and goodwill, I have constructed a checklist of 20 questions with which a person can make some important determinations about the ethos of online mascots. Although the checklist is aimed primarily for use by non-rhetoricians, it might also prove useful for those scholars who are curious about the direct correlation between the traditional concept of ethos and individual design and textual elements of a site's mascot. The first eight questions relate to perceptions of intelligence, while the next six could help indicate character, and the final six offer an insight into the mascot's goodwill. Intelligence: 1) When a visitor obtains the information or service he or she is looking for on the site, does the mascot itself appear to have provided that information for them? 2) Does the character change attire or feature a symbol consistent with a currently observed holiday? 3) Does the character have a professional name (such as "Doctor...") or a perceived professional occupation? 4) Does the web site provide fictitious credentials for the character? 5) Is the mascot exhibiting something in its expression, posture, clothing, or props that make it look smart? 6) Is the content of the site substantial enough to make it appear as though this the information provided by this mascot is more than any other might be able to offer? 7) Does the character look directly at the visitor of the web site? 8) Does the character look "at home" with the color scheme, fonts, and other graphical surroundings of the site? Character: 9) Does the character take an active approach to helping the visitor through gestures or textual support? 10) Does the character deceive the visitor by pointing him or her towards an unwanted product or advertisement? 11) How would the character be perceived by web surfers from a nation or group with different ethical standards from that of its own? 12) Does the character advocate positive action or behavior modification by the visitor? 13) Could the character be considered "cool" by the targeted audience (i.e. cute for a children's site, motherly for a self-help site, etc)? 14) Does the character smile? Goodwill: 15) Does the site make an effort to qualify the mascot with an "about our mascot" or "here's why our mascot is here for you" page? 16) Does the character exist as pure decoration, or does it seem to take an interest in the visitor to the site? 17) Does the character face towards the center of the browser page or is it staring off into space? 18) Does the character disappear when the site can't provide the information or product the visitor is seeking? 19) Does the character change outfits and activities to correlate with the different sections of the site? 20) Can the visitor make the character disappear if he or she so chooses and browse the same content of that site without the mascot? Back to the Report Overview Site created 11/27/99, last updated 5/14/00. All textual content published under the supervision of the Department of Speech Communication at The University of Washington, Seattle, and hosted by Filmtracks Publications of Missoula, Montana. All artwork is protected by the Copyright © 2000, of the site(s) it represents. Its appearance on this report is for informational, non-profit use, and may not be redistributed without their expressed written consent. Direct all questions or comments about these pages to Christian Clemmensen.