In today's economy, saving money whenever possible is a must. However, if one were to set two products of the same type side by side, one a brand name product and the other a generic, and ask people which they would buy, most would choose the higher priced name product. Here, we will look at why people like to buy name products.
Perception has a great deal to do with people choosing brand names over generic items. Most people believe that the brand name item is of higher quality than a cheaper generic version. In many cases, this is true, as the generic items are actually the seconds that the manufacturer refused to put their name on. However, this is not always the case.
Familiarity is another major reason for people preferring to buy brand name products. Companies spend a fortune on advertising, customer research, and promotion of their products so that their brand becomes a household name. Generic products are not advertised and are generally not packaged as brightly and expensively. People tend to buy products with which they have some level of familiarity.
Past experience is a major reason for the preference of brand name products. If a person has used a product in the past and gotten good service from it with a positive experience, the odds are that the person will buy that brand again when the need for that product arises. People develop a certain level of trust for brands that they have good experiences with and will almost always continue to buy that brand.
Certain branded products carry a certain amount of prestige. A person will sometimes buy a brand name item simply because he can then say he owns something with that brand. Designer clothing lines are a good example of this prestige branding.
