At a recent conference, which took place under the golden statues of the Paris Opera, Ipsos, HEC Paris and the internationla Luxury Association presented the results of a study made by students from the University of Chicago regarding the size of logos appearing on luxury products.

While having students work on such subject might appear frivolous at first, the results are somehow interesting. They should at least provide an original conversation topic for those who love to shine in society.

The study, focusing in the field of luxury, aimed at testing the relationship between the size of a logo and the price of the product it appears on. According to the results (as reported in Le Monde, by Nicole Vulser on 21 June 2010), the smaller the logo, the higher the price.

The study covered several luxury products sold under European brands. For instance, 236 Louis Vuitton bags were measured. Gucci bags were measured too. The logo appearing on each of these bags was also carefully and precisely measured. The logo-size versus bag-size ratio was used to rank the bags on a scale from one to seven. Add the price criteria in the equation and here are the results:

• each additional centimetre of the Gucci logo tagged on a bag will reduce its price tag by 99 euros (122 dollars -price are quoted in USD in the study, converted in EUR for this post at the public rate of 21 June 2010)
• in the Louis Vuitton case, bags only gain 21 euros (26 dollars) when the logo loses one centimetre