Do Customers Buy Products Or Brands?

The world today is overloaded with choices. Too many products tend to make it difficult for consumers to make the best choice. Take your kid to a local burger joint and ask him to choose which burger he wants, he’ll hate it, as he faces the ‘multiple choice’ dilemma. However, ask your kid which place he wants to get a burger from, he will be more than happy to choose from the various brands, and is likely to name Johnny Rockets or McDonald’s!

Research says that it also is due to the fact that certain brands are always there on our minds. These include big names like Pepsi and Coca Cola.

Customers prefer brands over products. Here are a few reasons as to why brands have an edge and are more popular among customers.

● Saves decision making time

As mentioned above, too many choices create a multiple choice problem for consumers. If you are in a market to buy a cell phone, for instance, you are likely to have a choice to make from over a billion cell phones. Brands can save you the trouble as well as the time on deciding which cell phone you should buy as they narrow down your choices considerably.

● Offers value to customers

Brands offer great value. Even though they might be pricey, customers are likely to choose them over other products any day. This is because branded products are of better quality. Not only that, brands boast a status in society. Mind you, it is not the products that brands offer, rather the brand itself which possesses a certain status in society, which in turn adds value for the consumers. Simone Kuhn states that using brands also triggers a part of the brain that is satisfied since you’re using a product that is well known.

● Brands are trustworthy

What transitions companies into well-known brands is their ability to gain irrefutable trust of their customers. They do this by offering high quality product and elevating the overall consumer experience. This makes brands to be safe and trustworthy. If McDonald’s comes up with a new flavor of burger, consumers will most likely not bat an eye before trying the new flavor. However, they will probably show considerable hesitancy if asked to try the same burger flavor from a not-so-well known burger place.

● Inspire and call for loyalty

Many customers develop loyalty to certain brands. This is most likely due to the high quality product and consumer experience that brands offer overtime. Thus, allowing brands to enjoy the privileges. Customers tend to buy any and all types of products under the brand names, merely because of loyalty.

Therefore, customers indeed buy brands, not the product. It is not the high quality product, low pricing or any such thing which derives their buying behavior. Instead, it is the name of the brand and the power it holds, which influences their purchase.

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