Guest Post: How Brand Loyalty is Making You Poor

This post is courtesy of Brittany at The Prudent Patron.

Most of us have brands we love. We always buy the same deodorant or that special conditioner that has the commercial with the girl stroking her impossibly glossy hair. There are two types of brand loyalty, conscious and subconscious. In the conscious loyalty, we are well aware that we love a certain name brand product. We might have tried several deodorants 10 years ago and decided brand “x” worked best. From then on, we have bought brand “x” repeatedly. Even when we had to pay more for it-- this is conscious brand loyalty. In subconscious brand loyalty, we aren’t really aware that we are choosing a certain brand over all others. Take for example batteries. Since childhood I have been inundated with commercials from the two major battery companies. There have been long lasting bunnies marching across my television for as long as I can remember. However, I had no idea I was a battery snob! Those commercials seeped into my subconscious to the point that I believed there were only two batteries worth buying, and all the rest were just generic garbage.

So, what does all this brand loyalty mean to your wallet? A few months ago I went from being a casual consumer to full force money saving machine. I’ve always tried to save money where I could. I bought things on sale whenever possible, and I clipped coupons for the products I regularly purchased. I thought of myself as a smart shopper, but I wasn’t. Now I look at brands in a whole new light. When I am clipping coupons on a Sunday night, I look at each product and ask myself “Would I try this brand if it were free or cost me less than $.50?”. The answer is usually “yes.” I am willing to try a different conditioner if I get a bottle of it for free or for a quarter. Why in the world would I pay $3.98 for my favorite deodorant if I can try a different brand for next to nothing? If I don’t like it, I never have to buy it again.

Can clipping coupons for new brands you are willing to try really get you free stuff? Absolutely! In just the last two months I have filled my closet with name brand shampoos, conditioners, deodorants, toothpastes and more. Sometimes I am able to get the brand I have always bought, but often I am trying a different brand. I don’t mean those strange looking brands you see when strolling down the aisle of the dollar store. I mean name brand, high quality products. All of these products I received for free or paid less than a dollar for by matching that previously skipped over coupon with a store sale. My most surprising discovery of all, I actually like some of these products better than the brands I was loyal to all those years! My hair is just as silky, and I smell just as sweet as I did before-- the only difference is I have more money in my wallet.

Now, let’s go back to those batteries I was turning my nose up at unknowingly. Two weeks ago, I came across a $1.00 coupon for a brand of batteries that I previously regarded as cheap. I assumed they were not worth buying since the name brand would probably last twice as long. I have no idea if this is true or not. I have not conducted tests on battery life, but as I was about to skip over this coupon, I asked myself if I would try it if it were free, and of course, the answer was “yes,” so I clipped it. Just yesterday as I walked past the dollar section at my local Target, I spotted those very same batteries! I fished out my $1.00 off coupons and bought several batteries for free. Now I ask you, do I really care if these batteries last as long as the others? They were free! It doesn’t matter if they only have half the battery life, which likely isn’t true anyway. To think just a few months ago I would have skipped that coupon and thrown it away along with my money.