Evaluating Olympic Pictograms Using Fuzzy TOPSIS—Focus on Judo, Taekwondo, Boxing, and Wrestling

It is necessary to evaluate whether Olympic pictograms are designed accurately and are easy to understand, so that they fulfill their intended functions and roles. Olympic pictograms are used to facilitate smooth communication at this large sporting event. However, viewers often find it challenging to understand the actual sport represented by the pictogram. This study evaluates the ranking of comprehensibility of the pictograms for judo, taekwondo, boxing, and wrestling used in six games, from the 27th Sydney Olympics in 2000 to the 32nd Tokyo Olympics in 2021. The evaluation was done using the fuzzy technique for order of preference by similarity to ideal solution (TOPSIS) method, a multi-criteria decision-making methodology commonly used in economics and other fields. Data collection was conducted from 10 May to 30 June 2021 for 44 general public and seven experts. The results are as follows. First, the pictograms from the 2008 Beijing Olympics ranked first in three sports: taekwondo, boxing, and wrestling, but there were no pictograms that consistently ranked first or sixth in all sports. Second, the sensitivity analysis result shows the possibility that the ranking would be reversed if the weight of the evaluation factors were changed. This study is expected to contribute to developing pictograms that can adequately convey the appropriate information regarding Olympic sports in the future.