Consumers Report Luxury Brands as Major Reason to Buy
For the second year in a row, luxury brands are at the top of Brand Key’s Annual Fashion 15 rankings, with U.S. apparel buyers attributing 29 percent to brands and logos for differentiating consumers’ purchasing decisions.
Last year, the role of fashion brands doubled from 2009's numbers to 28 percent in the annual study. In 2005, less than 3 percent of U.S. apparel buyers felt that luxury fashion brands and logos were increasing in importance.
"We are seeing brands becoming more meaningful to people," observes Amy Shea, executive vice president of global brand development at Brand Keys. "They need some way to differentiate one brand from another." She says this is "especially true in fashion," where value or the perception of “value-via-brand” is of much greater importance to consumers and the success of fashion brands.
While "price is price and certainly will always be a factor," the economy and increase in choices are major factors for this increase, according to Shea. "It's not like the old days where there were just a few choices," she says. "The smoke and mirrors era is over. It's a perfect storm of the economy forcing more meaningful decision making."
The survey consisted of 7,500 men and women, 21 to 65 years of age, who ranked the top 15 brands as follows:
- Favorite Sports Team
- Ralph Lauren
- Armani
- Calvin Klein
- J. Crew
- Banana Republic and Burberry
- Levi’s and Polo
- Chanel
- Dior and Versace
- Guess
- Tommy Hilfiger and Donna Karan
- Brooks Brothers
- Juicy Couture, Marc Jacobs, and Victoria’s Secret
- Dolce & Gabbana and Gucci
- Abercrombie & Fitch, Izod, and Yves Saint Laurent
The study also differentiated the top 15 favorite brands among women and men. Among women, the top brands were "more luxe this year but included some mid-range brands:”
- Ralph Lauren
- Favorite Sports Team
- Armani
- Chanel
- Dior and Versace
- Donna Karan
- J. Crew
- Burberry and Calvin Klein
- Banana Republic
- Levi’s
- Guess, Juicy Couture, and Victoria's Secret
- Marc Jacobs and Tom Ford
- Dolce & Gabbana
- Yves Saint Laurent
- Tory Burch, Kate Spade, and La Perla
Among men, the top brands were as follows:
- Favorite Sports Team
- Nike
- Ralph Lauren and Polo
- Armani
- Calvin Klein
- Tommy Hilfiger
- Lacoste
- Brooks Brothers
- J. Crew
- Banana Republic and Levi’s
- Burberry
- Gucci
- Guess
- Abercrombie & Fitch and Izod
- Hugo Boss and Tom Ford