I have always been a brand name grocery and consumer goods shopper. A vast majority of my grocery and consumer good purchases are repeat purchases for I am a brand loyalist. I only buy Dove soap, Tide washing detergent, Heinz ketchup, Granny Smith apples, and list continues.
Why? I personally have conscious and unconscious rationales for these shopping behaviors. We have history; these are the brands that I grew up using, I like these brands. Also, I have been conditioned to believe that brand names are better; based on the assumption that you get what you pay for.
Generic products tend to be of a cheaper and/or poorer quality. For example, Equate, is generic brand that offers cheaper and inferior consumer good products as compared to Johnson & Johnson. I can think of several more examples of brand products that are better that the generics. I cannot however recollect any generics products that a better alternative than brand names.
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I can see your rationale with the Brand Name thing...I too was raised to believe they were better. I don't know why, we grew up fairly poor so I sure the extra dollars would have been better spent but I guess it was just becuause of that. The name brands say something about you-at least they did to me. I felt superior if I could afford to splurge.
ReplyDeleteYet, now it's a different story. I look for organic and natural products-mostly becuase I have a septic tank and anything that goes down the drain will eventually get into the water table...thus effecting me. Plus, I just feel better when I buy something that has that "energy efficient" e on it. It may leave some spots on my dishes after I pull them out of the dishwasher but I think it's worth it. (and in the end, I guess it all does the same thing)
We have been conditioned to trust these brands over generic. Not only do we think the products are better, but for many of these brands, they have also invested in their reputation with the community. So we tend to feel more "at home" with these brands. They are a part of our life, even an extension of our family. In some cases the brand name has even taken on the identity of the overall product. For instance, Jell-O. We no long go shopping for gelatin even if we are going to purchase the generic. We say we need jello.
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