Elite Shoppers Eschew Logos
- Started
- Last post
- 2 Responses
- bored2death
Why Elite Shoppers Eschew Logos
By TEDDY WAYNE
Published: July 26, 2010K-Mart and Marc Jacobs have something in common: low- and high-end fashion products tend to have less conspicuous brand markers than midprice goods, according to a paper soon to be published in The Journal of Consumer Research.
Rather than rely on obvious logos, expensive products use more discreet markers, such as distinctive design or detailing. High-end consumers prefer markers of status that are not decipherable by the mainstream. These signal group identity only to others with the connoisseurship to recognize their insider standing.
In one study, fashion students were more likely than regular students to favor subtle signals for products visible to others, like handbags. But for private products less relevant to identity, like underwear and socks, there was no difference between the groups.
Jonah Berger, an assistant professor of marketing at the University of Pennsylvania and one of the paper’s authors, said it was not that insiders simply had a dislike for logos.
Instead, he said, they avoid them “in identity-relevant domains to distinguish themselves from mainstream consumers who buy such products to show they’ve made it.” TEDDY WAYNE
- lvl_130
not sure i totally agree with that.
- lukus_W0
Logos have been used as a conspicuous indicator of value for quite a while - but I think the age of big brand logos was probably the eighties. The concept of conspicuously wearing wealth (and bling) fell out of fashion for a while, came back in a retro-sense - and now that the majority of the world is in recession, it's probably not likely to return for some time. Audiences and customers have become far more sophisticated. I reckon people who spend a lot of money on clothes generally don't want to appear vulgar.
I think there's also a reasonable business case for reducing dependence on a mark or logo. When the majority of your brand's value is tied to a mark - it makes the possibility of counter-fitting more viable.
Does this trend make design less relevant? No - it's just as relevant, and the job of designing is made more interesting and challenging as a result.