Can Your Logo Make Customers Spend More Money?

Image source: Designtaxi.com

One of the biggest roles of brand identity is to quickly tell customers what they can expect. When shoppers see the Walmart logo, they know that they can get low-cost products. The Coach logo, on the other hand, is a warning sign that you'd better bring out the big bucks if you expect to buy anything.   Research shows that your logo does so much more than tell customers what your store sells -- it can also make your customers spend more money. All you have to do is show shoppers your company logo and you will dramatically increase the amount of money they spend on average. It sounds too good to be true, doesn't it?  

A study by Tanya Chartrand that was published in the Journal of Consumer Research found that exposure to high-quality brand logos encourages shoppers to spend more money. First, the researchers flashed the words "Tiffany", "Neiman Marcus," and "Nordstrom" on a screen for 60 milliseconds, not enough to time for a person to consciously realize what he's seen but more than enough time to for the subconscious mind to register the words. The researchers  then asked the participants whether they would prefer buying a $5.25 double pack of Hanes socks or a $6 pair of Nike socks.  

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The researchers did the same thing for another group, but this time they flashed the words "Walmart," "Kmart," and "Dollar Store" across the screen. What the researchers found was that the group who saw the luxury names were much more likely to choose the expensive pair of socks.  

Essentially, exposure to luxury logos makes people shop as if they're richer. Exposure to the logos of discount stores makes people shop as if they're poorer. And most importantly, your logo fundamentally affects the psychology of your customers without them even realizing it.  

This has major implications for business owners, especially those who own luxury businesses with strong brand identity. If you own your market's equivalent of Porsche or Coach, then you can do two things to significantly boost your sales. First, launch an aggressive marketing campaign so that consumers associate your logo with luxury products. Second, make sure that consumers are exposed to your logo while they're at your store. Based on the findings of this research, this is one of the tricks you can use that should make shoppers more likely to fork over tons of cash in order to buy your top-notch product.   Image source: Louisvuitton.com

Naturally, giving your employees custom uniforms is a great way to increase brand exposure. That's an investment that will more than pay itself off in the long run. A custom outfit only needs to help you make one sale and it's already paid itself off. How can you afford not to make that kind of investment?