2+3+4PM The importance of clothing logos

One could say that life is the art of making risky judgments based on limited information. This is nowhere more true than in our interactions with other people, where the tiniest markers of data can be treated with ridiculous significance. In particular, it turns out that the logos we wear on clothing are just such status markers. Dutch researchers wanted to find out whether logos mattered for our judgments of people and how much. They did a series of experiments, most all of which are jaw-dropping.

1. They showed people pictures of men wearing polo-style shirts. The pictures were identical except that the logo was altered digitally to either be designer (Hilfiger or Lacoste), no logo at all, or ordinary (Slazenger). Then they asked viewers to rank the man on a five-point scale for status and wealth. Results? Hilfiger scored 3.47/3.94 (status/wealth), Lacoste was 3.50/3.4. No logo at all scored 2.91/2.78, Slazenger was 2.84/2.80.

2. Women conducted surveys in a mall by asking strangers to participate. One day she wore a sweater with a Hilfiger logo and the next day no log at all on the same sweater. An astounding 52% of people participated with the Hilfiger logo and only 13% (!) without it.

3. Researchers showed people the same man being interviewed for a job, in one video he wore no log and in the other he had one. When wearing a logo, observers rated him as more suitable for the job and even recommended 9% higher salary.

4. Women posed as charity workers and went collecting door-to-door either with or without logos, with an almost double donation amount per answered door when they wore the label/logo.

5. In an experiment on trust, people were willing to trust a stranger based on his photo with money 36% more if his picture was of a logoed shirt versus not. But when specifically informed that the shirt was given to the person by the researchers, they treated him no different than the no logo stranger. So people are cognitively able to differentiate whether the shirt belongs to the person or not as a clue to these social variables.

Now while all of this looks extremely superficial, and perhaps it is, the underlying revelation is that we are all very well-conditioned first to recognize logos and to decode their meaning as markers of higher social status or expense. Of course, the assumption that this correlates with character or competence is fantastic, but it certainly means that clothes matter, perhaps substantially, in our interactions with others. So much for those who would like to say that it doesn’t matter how you dress. Also, if you’re despairing that you can’t afford the better branded clothing, I assure you that you can always find brand names at thrift stores.