I am a brand name loyalist. I like certain brands of certain products and it is unlikely that I will switch.
Our son keeps trying to convince us to shop at Aldi’s. He (as a father of three always-hungry teenagers) keeps telling us that we could really save some money if we shopped there. I tried Aldi’s. Once. Nope. Not a brand name in sight and you just can’t convince me it is the same. I think I left the store and the only thing I bought was one sweet potato.
Research says that people buy brand name products for a variety of reasons. Sometimes it is the product of their childhood. It brings back good memories. Think Crayola Crayons or Play-Dough. Sometimes it is because they have had a good experience with a product. Or sometimes a brand name product aligns with a certain image they have of themselves.
My childhood was a mixed bag when it came to brand loyalty. My mother did love a bargain, but on the other hand, she was loyal to certain products. She always bought Tide. Always.
In our family of five, my mother generally bargain shopped. I appreciated her loyalty to Campbell’s soups (my childhood favorite), but I could never win her over to abandon the cheaper store-brand bread and spring for that squishy-soft, wonderfully white Wonder Bread. I feel certain our son could have converted my mother to an Aldi’s shopper in an instant.
Sometimes brand loyalty may be circumstantial. Growing up I don’t ever remember seeing a brand name ice cream in our freezer; it was usually the store brand of ice milk, usually Neapolitan (though no one in our family really liked strawberry ice cream). The cost of a pint of Ben & Jerry’s (which did not exist then) would have sent shock waves through my mother.
And yet, after we all grew up and moved on, it was a shock to come home and see Breyer’s Ice Cream and Tropicana Orange Juice and real butter in my parents’ refrigerator. New brand loyalties had emerged.
Once I left the margarine domain of my childhood, I was loyal to Land of Lakes butter (I liked the packaging) until a friend showed up last St. Patrick’s day with a loaf of Irish Soda bread and a stick of Irish Kerry Gold butter, I have switched my brand to Kerry Gold.
Some people are loyal to a brand because they think it enhances their image. For me, this is not my major link to brand loyalty. I am not a brand name person when it comes to fashion though many people are. My allegiance is to comfort and that shows (for better or worse) in the clothing I select. I like Saucony running shoes. They are comfortable. Plus a sports medicine doctor I met when doing my hospital chaplaincy proclaimed them to be one of the best shoes for your feet and encouraged me to wear them when I was serving on the hospital floor. I was sold. Still am. I haven’t bought another brand of running shoes in the past thirty years and my feet never hurt. Well, almost never. I also love-love-love my Birkenstocks; I have been loyal to this brand for over five decades when people used to tease me about wearing my “Jesus sandals”. As I said, I am loyal to comfort. If you want to meet true shoe brand loyalty, talk to my husband about his Crocs! My favorite socks are SmartWool though I occasionally try other brands. I always look for one thing in any clothing: comfort.
Sometimes brand loyalty is related to geography. If you grew up in the South you are probably loyal to Krispy Kreme donuts; but if you grew up in New England you will fight for your Dunkin’. Are you a Coke or a Pepsi person? If you are from North Carolina, Cheerwine may have won your heart long ago or you still insist on TAB. Do you make your biscuits with White Lily flour or are you a King Arthur person?
Sometimes brand loyalty is simply because of having had a good experience with a brand and seeing no real reason to change. Tom and I are Subaru people. We did love Tom’s little Honda Fit but it was not high in the comfort zone for long trips (but boy! It was super in gas mileage compared to the Subaru). We have pondered the Toyota Prius or a different electric vehicle. But having having lived in the NC mountains and in Vermont, the Subaru always proved reliable on slip-sliding roads and always got me safely to my destinations. Brand loyalty can be born from past good experiences.
I am brand loyal to Apple anything. I cannot imagine buying a PC or an Android Phone. Apple has never disappointed me plus I am a sucker for their marketing and design acumen. Have you ever noticed how the label designs of brand name products are so much more appealing than generic brands?
My husband does not always feel these same loyalties but he goes along with my quirky brand name loyalty. However, he also knows that when he is going shopping I am likely to say, “I need a can of pineapple. Dole pineapple. Don’t buy some house brand. Buy Dole.” He shakes his head but chooses not to enter a boxing match over my brand loyalty. However, both of us will go to the brand loyalty mat with anyone for the superiority of Duke’s mayonnaise.
I am not saying that brand loyalty makes sense and we all know it often does not make dollar sense. I am just saying there are those of us who are brand loyalists and those of us who are not.
It is said that brand loyalty can become an emotional attachment. I think this is true because my brand loyalty really does not make rational sense. It is just one of those things that is. It doesn’t bother me. It is just a part of me. And yes, I know I am a very privileged first-world being to even engage in a brand loyalty conversation.
But yes, I heart brand names. Maybe you do, too. Or maybe you are shaking your head and saying I am crazy. Either answer is the correct one.
Interesting topic! I don't think of myself of having brand loyalty, but I always tend to buy particular brands out of habit, I think. I do find that many times the generic brands are the same or better.
I am loyal to certain brand names. I grew up drinking Pepsi and Cheerwine and Nehi but now very seldom drink any soft drink other than Seagram’s Ginger Ale. I always buy White Lily flour and never heard of King Arthur. I would never buy any mayonnaise other than Dukes but buy what washing detergent is on sale. I love Subaru cars and have driven them for years. I am also not an Audi’s fan. So some brands I am loyal & some not.