387. IJRM. Luxury & Logo Complexity.
November 6, 2025
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Logos are more than decoration—they’re strategic signals. In a recent conversation, Qing Tang, Assistant Professor of Marketing at Hong Kong Baptist University, shared research she conducted with colleagues, published in the International Journal of Research in Marketing, on how logo design influences consumer perceptions of luxury. While many companies have shifted toward stripped-down, minimalist logos, their studies reveal that complexity can strengthen associations with luxury and exclusivity.
Here are some of the key ideas from their work:
Market trends: Many brands, including Burberry and Google, have embraced simplified logos. Yet Burberry recently returned to a more complex design, raising questions about what simplification sacrifices.
Research findings:
Luxury brands, compared to fast fashion brands, more often use complex logos.
Across industries, logo complexity reliably boosts perceptions of luxury.
Experimental redesigns confirmed causality: when a logo becomes more complex, consumers perceive the brand as more luxurious.
The trade-off: Complexity enhances perceptions of luxury but reduces approachability. Simpler logos, by contrast, can make brands feel more accessible—something especially valued by Gen Z.
Craftsmanship link: Consumers often interpret intricate logos as signals of craftsmanship, a cornerstone of luxury. When craftsmanship is highlighted directly in brand messaging, logo effects become less important.
Cultural and market considerations: Preferences may vary across consumer groups. For example, high-status consumers or those immersed in fashion may favor minimalist signals, while new luxury entrants can benefit from complex logos to suggest heritage and prestige.
Digital implications: Even in social media settings, complex logos make consumers more likely to follow a luxury brand.
This body of research underscores that logo design isn’t just about aesthetics—it’s a strategic lever. For luxury brands in particular, simplifying a logo could risk eroding the aura of exclusivity that defines their market position.
Click here for the Research Article
The Up Next podcast’s access to this content is courtesy of the International Journal of Research in Marketing, an international, double-blind peer-reviewed journal for marketing academics and practitioners. IJRM aims to contribute to the marketing discipline by providing high-quality, original research which advances marketing knowledge and techniques. As marketers increasingly draw on diverse and sophisticated methods, IJRM‘s target audience is comprised of marketing scholars, practitioners (e.g., marketing research and consulting professionals) and policymakers.
IJRM aims to be at the forefront of the marketing field with a particular emphasis on bringing timely ideas to market. The journal embraces innovative research with the potential to spur future research and influence practice. Hence, it welcomes contributions in various aspects of marketing. The editors, while accepting a wide array of scholarly contributions from different disciplinary approaches, especially encourage research that is novel, visionary or path breaking.
Interviewee
Qing Tang is Assistant Professor of Marketing at Hong Kong Baptist University. She holds a Ph.D. in Marketing from Nanyang Technological University. Her research interests focus on brand communication, digital marketing, and visual marketing.
Co-authors
Xun (Irene) Huang is an Associate Professor of Marketing and Department Head in the Department of Global Business and Marketing at the Lee Shau Kee School of Business and Administration, Hong Kong Metropolitan University. She earned her Ph.D. in Marketing from The Chinese University of Hong Kong. As a consumer psychologist, her research investigates how brand communications, digital environments, and emotional and sensory experiences shape consumer behavior.
Kuangjie Zhang is Associate Professor of Marketing and Academic Director for the MSc Marketing Science program at Nanyang Business School, Nanyang Technological University, Singapore. He holds a Ph.D. in Management (Marketing specialization) from INSEAD. He also received a B.A. degree in Economics and a B.Sc. degree in Psychology from Peking University in China. His research interests focus on pricing and numerical cognition as well as the domain of hedonic and experiential consumption. He is also interested in topics such as brand perception, prosocial behavior, and health communication.
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International Journal of Research in Marketing
Interviewee
Qing Tang
Co-authors
Xun (Irene) Huang
Kuangjie Zhang