Why do people buy branded products so much?

Tangatagamadda Chaddabinga Bonga Bungo

I understand that some brands are better than others, and use better or different ingredients. Like Heinz ketchup is better than the cheapest bottle. Or a product like Peanut Butter where people have a preference for a specific type, like extra peanuts, or more crunchiness or smoothness.

But how do branded products of simply straight raw ingredients get away with charging more for what they sell?

Green Isle vegetables are just vegetables in a branded bag.
Uncle Ben's Rice is simply rice with a picture of Nelson Mandela on the side.
Milk can be bought from Avonmore/CMP, or 'Non-Affiliated Own Brand Milk' from whatever supermarket, but it all comes from the same Bord Bia approved farms.
Or Fyffes bananas too for that manner.

There's examples across almost every raw food stuff.


Are people just a bit thick?

tomwaterford

What other brand of bananas are there?


(but your right on milk....many cases its made in the same plant)

grogi

Tangatagamadda Chaddabinga Bonga Bungo wrote: »

Green Isle vegetables are just vegetables in a branded bag.
Uncle Ben's Rice is simply rice with a picture of Nelson Mandela on the side.
Milk can be bought from Avonmore/CMP, or 'Non-Affiliated Own Brand Milk' from whatever supermarket, but it all comes from the same Bord Bia approved farms.
Or Fyffes bananas too for that manner.

It is not just a carrot. You can have carefully selected carrots grown with minimal amount of pesticides with well-being of the workers in mind. Or you can have over fertilised carrot collected by abused people in 3rd world. They will all look alike.

While I am not sure about carrots, fishing industry in known to use SLAVE LABOUR.

To answer your question - people believe that the branded product is of better quality and gathered in better way. I am not saying that the more expensive is actually better - but there might be a huge difference between two products that look exactly the same.

Hande hoche!

Tangatagamadda Chaddabinga Bonga Bungo wrote: »

I understand that some brands are better than others, and use better or different ingredients. Like Heinz ketchup is better than the cheapest bottle. Or a product like Peanut Butter where people have a preference for a specific type, like extra peanuts, or more crunchiness or smoothness.

But how do branded products of simply straight raw ingredients get away with charging more for what they sell?

Green Isle vegetables are just vegetables in a branded bag.
Uncle Ben's Rice is simply rice with a picture of Nelson Mandela on the side.
Milk can be bought from Avonmore/CMP, or 'Non-Affiliated Own Brand Milk' from whatever supermarket, but it all comes from the same Bord Bia approved farms.
Or Fyffes bananas too for that manner.

There's examples across almost every raw food stuff.


Are people just a bit thick?

It's clearly Morgan Freeman.

Ubbquittious

CMP milk tastes lovely compared to the other stuff.

biko

Because people are sheep

c_man

Mainly due to advertising imo. Ever sense I was a young lad, I've seen countless ads for Uncle Ben's. That's sure to have an affect when reaching for a box of rice.

razorblunt

If I had a definitive list of own brands / "inferior brands" I'd be keen.
I agree on the milk and a lot of own brand range in supermarkets, no issue there, but I'm not going to buy a Plantronics tv over a Samsung for example.

SEPT 23 1989

Anyone who has had the utter misfortune of eating Sunblest Cornflakes knows that argument is nonsense

Tangatagamadda Chaddabinga Bonga Bungo

razorblunt wrote: »

If I had a definitive list of own brands / "inferior brands" I'd be keen.
I agree on the milk and a lot of own brand range in supermarkets, no issue there, but I'm not going to buy a Plantronics tv over a Samsung for example.

Or a Sorny, that really is a superior machine.

DontThankMe

Marketing is the answer the companies create advertising campaigns that appeal to their target market and if consumers like it they will purchase the advertised products. It is what distinguishes a named brand from an unknown or own label brand. Some branded products are definitely better than non branded ones but not every single one is worth paying the extra money for it.

Atoms for Peace

I always buy milk from the local co-op as it's at least a day or two fresher than the supermarket or big brands.

murpho999

tomwaterford wrote: »

What other brand of bananas are there?


(but your right on milk....many cases its made in the same plant)

Chiquita.

Bananas are the only fruit I know that actually has a brand.

eeguy

razorblunt wrote: »

If I had a definitive list of own brands / "inferior brands" I'd be keen.
I agree on the milk and a lot of own brand range in supermarkets, no issue there, but I'm not going to buy a Plantronics tv over a Samsung for example.

There's one somewhere on boards.
Can't find it right now tho.

Tangatagamadda Chaddabinga Bonga Bungo

Atoms for Peace wrote: »

I always buy milk from the local co-op as it's at least a day or two fresher than the supermarket or big brands.

That's a fair enough reason to buy 'branded' milk. It also may be even more 'local'.

Count Down

Outspan Oranges?

seamus

There are lots of subtle things at play. Most of it marketing which is designed to create an emotional connection between the end-user and the product. People see the brand they're familiar with and they get a brief but palpable "zing" in their brain which makes them positive to brand A, and less positive to brand B.

It's not about people being stupid at all, it's about people being people. Everyone will do this to one extent or another. Whether it's drinking Volvic instead of Evian because it "tastes nicer", or picking Barry's over Lyon's, Avonmore over Premier Dairies, having an emotional connection to brands is an extension of the tribal human which feels safe and loyal to the things they know.

Do you get a rush of sentimentality and pride when you see an Irish flag? Marketing. It's just some colours on a piece of cloth, no different to any other. But it's been marketed to you and now you feel an emotional connection to it.

Don't fight it, just recognise it, enjoy it when it happens but don't be a slave to it.

razorblunt

murpho999 wrote: »

Chiquita.

Bananas are the only fruit I know that actually has a brand.

Elton John wrote a song about them too!

Count Down

Abba had one about Chiquita a while ago.:cool:

etselbbuns

murpho999 wrote: »

Chiquita.
Bananas are the only fruit I know that actually has a brand.

Dole pineapple?
Pink Lady apples are copyrighted products - the result of scientific research.

Sleepy

There are very few products where I pay attention to brands tbh: cigarettes (Camel or Marlboro), some breweries I'll always try the latest beer from, some cars etc.

Geuze

Psychology, advertising, and marketing.

People foolishly think higher price means better.

The milk I buy in Lidl comes from the Aurivo processing plant in Killygordon, Co. Donegal. It's 75c.

But people persist in buying Connacht Gold branded milk, made in the same machines in the same plant.

A butter plant manager confirmed to me that the own-brand butter is the exact same as the branded butter, coming off the same line, just with a different wrapper.

Mehapoy

Atoms for Peace wrote: »

I always buy milk from the local co-op as it's at least a day or two fresher than the supermarket or big brands.

Plus you are supporting local enterprise, farmers etc. rather than a conglomerate with centralised processing etc. If the supermarkets were to control the milk processing market theyvwouldnt be long squeezing suppliers etc.

grogi

Geuze wrote: »

But people persist in buying Connacht Gold branded milk, made in the same machines in the same plant.

You can't be sure of that.

The Lidl supply contract might and probably does state different quality regime than what they put in their own brand boxes/bottles.

The same goes to any industry - used machinery might be the same, the product might look the same, but it does not automatically mean the two are identical.

SarahMollie

I buy a mix between branded/supermarket own brand - I typically only buy branded when I specifically like that item, but I've no issue trying supermarket brands, sure its worth a shot if it works.

The following I typically buy branded;
Ketchup - heinz
Mayo - also heinz contraversally
Ballymaloe relish - love the stuff
weetabix (himself insists on it)
Brennans wholemeal bread, which isnt expensive anyway


Things I'll always buy supermarkets own
Milk
Eggs
butter
egg noodles/pasta (tescos own are v.good)
parmasan chese
chedar cheese (aldis mature is the best)
chorizo (again, aldi, from their specially selected range)
herbs and spices
soy sauce
salt and pepper grinders
bottled water
bacon medalions (tescos)
humous (aldis classic one is the best i've tried)
quark (tesco)
Fat free high protien natural youhut (I love Fage but the Aldi dupe is half the price)

I'm not for or against brands, I just try everything, try to be a savy shopper and go back for the things I like.

Agricola

Brands make a difference when it comes to machines / power tools. Had an Aldi angle grinder that lasted about a year before the spindle lock mechanism fell apart and soon after the motor died due to dust getting inside.
Whereas I've a Bosch grinder handed down by an uncle that's still going strong since God knows how long.
In general cheap tools whether it be spanners, sockets, drill bits, rachets etc, just don't seem to be suitable for anything but the lightest work and they aren't long lasting.

ScumLord

murpho999 wrote: »

Chiquita.

Bananas are the only fruit I know that actually has a brand.

And the funny thing is the vast majority of bananas are clones, so they're all identical. It's a very fragile fruit because of that, we're already on our second banana because the first one was wiped out by a fungus and there's a real risk it could happen again.


Orange juice is another thing that's completely fake. Oranges are turned into juice then they have oxygen removed, which has the side effect of completely removing the taste as well as making it last longer. Then companies develop their own orange flavour and add it back into the orange juice to brand their juice. If you think about it there's no way every bottle of Sunny D would taste the same because all kinds of things would affect the flavour of the oranges. 100% natural orange juice is mostly a lie, it's a manufactured product using oranges, they can get away with calling it 100% natural by using some real orange oils in the flavouring. The rest is all chemicals.

The same goes for clothes, high end brands sell themselves on the quality of the clothes they sell to rich people, then they make cheapo versions for sale to the plebs that are little better than the stuff in the likes of dunnes.

Advertising as a whole is slipping into the realms of out and out lies, we're like the frog in a pot of slowly heating water, it's happening so gradually we're not aware of how bad it is.

I recently saw an ad on TV for some bank that was showing a mother buying her childrens love by getting a loan to buy them a swing set. I found it pretty disgusting targeting mothers like that. It's part of the reason I hate TV so much.

Kimbot

murpho999 wrote: »

Chiquita.

Bananas are the only fruit I know that actually has a brand.

Pink lady apples :P

grogi

ScumLord wrote: »

And the funny thing is the vast majority of bananas are clones, so they're all identical.

Again - genetics is not everything!

ScumLord wrote: »

It's a very fragile fruit because of that, we're already on our second banana because the first one was wiped out by a fungus and there's a real risk it could happen again.

It is happening. Eat while you can.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-35131751

GerryDerpy

Brands have a reputation to uphold. So they put some sort of effort in to ensure quality of product.

pilly

I tend to try all sorts of brands and non brands and go with whichever tastes better.

On some things though you can't cut back on quality. For example when I was unemployed I used to buy the cheapest shampoo and conditioner in Aldi and my head ended up a scaly itchy mess and my hair looked like it had never been washed.

c_man

There are a few things I'll generally go for certain/known brands on (jeans, shoes, iphone, booze) but for the rest I'm easy and a usual Aldi/Lidl head. I used to be wary of their meat but then I realised I was being an idiot.

The own brand/generic is as good or better than some branded products but some branded products are far superior to their own branded versions.

Tsipras

$579 Billion spent worldwide on advertising in 2016

ytpe2r5bxkn0c1

Tangatagamadda Chaddabinga Bonga Bungo wrote: »

Or Fyffes bananas too for that manner.

There's examples across almost every raw food stuff.


Are people just a bit thick?

Fyffes bananas are so much nicer than Chiquita. Even within Fyffes their premium branded bananas are nicer than those supplied, unbranded, to the likes of Aldi - different countries of origin and different varieties.

osarusan

As I say every time this comes up: when I pay more for certain products it's because there's a genuine difference in quality, but when others pay more for certain products that I wouldn't pay more for, they are obviously hipsters, full of crap etc., and that's all there is to it.

LirW

I shop mainly at Lidl. There are very few things I buy branded, like Ketchup. I just pick up my veg somewhere else because I don't need a ton of carrots, onions etc.
Also their 45 cent dark chocolate digestives are the sh*t.

grogi

Do you buy products that are Organic?

pickarooney

murpho999 wrote: »

Chiquita.

Bananas are the only fruit I know that actually has a brand.

The man from del Monte days no.

pickarooney

Geuze wrote: »

A butter plant manager confirmed to me that the own-brand butter is the exact same as the branded butter, coming off the same line, just with a different wrapper.

A hip hop label manager told me the same thing.

Doctor Nick

Geuze wrote: »

A butter plant manager confirmed to me that the own-brand butter is the exact same as the branded butter, coming off the same line, just with a different wrapper.

True. I used to work in a sweet factory. Same wine gums, jelly babies. We'd just change the wrapper on the machine.

Stone Deaf 4evr

grogi wrote: »

It is not just a carrot. You can have carefully selected carrots grown with minimal amount of pesticides with well-being of the workers in mind. Or you can have over fertilised carrot collected by abused people in 3rd world. They will all look alike.

While I am not sure about carrots, fishing industry in known to use SLAVE LABOUR.

To answer your question - people believe that the branded product is of better quality and gathered in better way. I am not saying that the more expensive is actually better - but there might be a huge difference between two products that look exactly the same.

If you think large corporations who produce branded goods don't step on the necks of suppliers or farmers all the way up the line, in order to maximize profit, then you're somewhat deluded.

Glenster

Colt Chilly Greyhound wrote: »

The own brand/generic is as good or better than some branded products but some branded products are far superior to their own branded versions.

Some posts are more insightful than others, but then some other posts are actually less insightful than other ones.

Geuze

grogi wrote: »

You can't be sure of that.

The Lidl supply contract might and probably does state different quality regime than what they put in their own brand boxes/bottles.

The same goes to any industry - used machinery might be the same, the product might look the same, but it does not automatically mean the two are identical.

I can be sure of it, as I spoke to the ex-manager of the plant.

I also went on a tour of the plant.

annascott

I buy organic wherever possible. Everything else I check the ingredient list then decide. Many well known brand named foods are high in chemicals. On the whole, the more expensive product should be better quality food. Someone told me once that LIDL and ALDI vegetables and fruit were sourced from cheap eastern European countries that had little or no laws on chemical safety levels and used human sewage waste as fertilizer. I know that this is not true and that they are mostly Irish products but still cannot bring myself to buy them.

Mena Mitty

Green Ace tomatoes or any other Irish tomatoes in season are delicious this time of year.

I tend to avoid anything in a plastic bottle.

I've been buying Chef tomato sauce in the glass bottle for over 30 years. Chef beetroot also.

Ok my bad mind at work here, do producers use the best ingredients to win those award stickers and then revert back to the cheaper ingredients after they win their award ?

nice_guy80

coffee

cheap coffee is crap

dark crystal

I'll try and buy the store brand of any product except Coca-Cola. No store brand has ever come close to the taste of real Coke.

Persephone kindness

Tangatagamadda Chaddabinga Bonga Bungo wrote: »

I understand that some brands are better than others, and use better or different ingredients. Like Heinz ketchup is better than the cheapest bottle. Or a product like Peanut Butter where people have a preference for a specific type, like extra peanuts, or more crunchiness or smoothness.

But how do branded products of simply straight raw ingredients get away with charging more for what they sell?

Green Isle vegetables are just vegetables in a branded bag.
Uncle Ben's Rice is simply rice with a picture of Nelson Mandela on the side.
Milk can be bought from Avonmore/CMP, or 'Non-Affiliated Own Brand Milk' from whatever supermarket, but it all comes from the same Bord Bia approved farms.
Or Fyffes bananas too for that manner.

There's examples across almost every raw food stuff.


Are people just a bit thick?

These brands have deals with shops ..you are not buying uncle ben's from uncle ben or the company you are buying it from tescos they made have an exclusive deal with Uncle ben to only buy or stock from them. It's quite usual. Cadbury etc ..shops might only stock Bradbury and have a deal to do so. So if every tesco do this ...then you tend to notice cadubry in your cupboard more.

The deal is with the distributor not the consumer.

ScumLord

There can be other reasons for the higher price on branded goods. One reason is the branded good is advertising so that's going to drive the price up.

They could also pay their staff more, they could manufacture to higher safety standards which adds a lot of cost, the factory outside of Europe could be very lax and use extremely old machines and make up for the inefficiency of their production line by hiring more low cost labour.

I always think it's ridiculous that we hold European companies to high standards then just import the cheap crap from countries that don't use those standards. I think if any company whats to sell into the EU it should be forced to meet the same standards as local companies.

Glenster

Tangatagamadda Chaddabinga Bonga Bungo wrote: »

Green Isle vegetables are just vegetables in a branded bag.
Uncle Ben's Rice is simply rice with a picture of Nelson Mandela on the side.
Milk can be bought from Avonmore/CMP, or 'Non-Affiliated Own Brand Milk' from whatever supermarket, but it all comes from the same Bord Bia approved farms.
Or Fyffes bananas too for that manner.

Green Isle Vegetables - No-one cares, they're the same price as unbranded veg.

Uncle Bens rice is nicer - unbranded rice is disgusting.

All milk costs the same.

No-one looks at the brand of a banana before they buy it.