Talking to a friend about what things we’d both bought for payday made me realise how loyal to certain brands I am. Honestly, go ahead and open up my wardrobe, you’ll see just one or two clothing brands in there. They joked I could be a spokesperson for one label, but that joke hit home. It got me thinking, why do I always buy from the same places? How have I been brainwashed into being so closed-minded, and what can I do to change that?
Brand loyalty’s a good thing!
Now don’t get me wrong, I think brand loyalty is definitely a good thing. Although some people say we’re creatures of habit, and that’s why we continuously buy the same products from the same place, how did we get that habit to begin with?
The retailer or brand must have been doing something right for us to want to buy from them again and again. However, could this be stopping us from finding new retailers, and new brands to love? Not only that, it could be making us spend a lot more money than we need to.
The science
Yes, there’s science to all of this. Science Daily have pointed out that you might only be loyal to a brand because of a need to defend your choices when others criticize them. There’s been a lot of research on this Sunken Cost Fallacy; the idea that if you invest in something emotionally or monetarily, you don’t want to believe you did it for nothing. We tend to gloss over any faults or flaws in products if we’ve bought a lot, to make ourselves feel better about spending the money on them.
Why do you keep buying the same things from the same place?
So buying from a certain clothes shop time and time again, or buying the same product like a brand of toothpaste, could actually be caused by your brain making you think these are better than they actually are. Or it could be a habit, or the retailer or product could really be worthy of your loyalty. Without shopping around, you won’t know which of these is right.
Shop around!
Here’s what I’m thinking of doing:
- The next time I go shopping, I’m going to try going to a different retailer for one item.
- I’m going to look for different types of a product I normally buy. I’m not going to give up on the brands I love. But I’m definitely going to start trying new things.
- Certain items I’m already growing frustrated with I’ll make a note of, like LearnVest suggest. I think a great first step in looking for something new is to start with items you’re already frustrated with.
- I’m hoping to save money and find something new to love.
As lifehacker point out, this kind of mind-set can really hurt not only you, but the people you buy things for too. If you’re looking for a gift for someone, your habits could force you into choosing something you feel more comfortable with, rather than what they’d like more. If you start looking around for new things for yourself, you’ll find it much easier to put yourself in your loved ones shoes and think, ‘what would they like and where can I get that for the best value’?
Is there anywhere you love to shop, or any brand you don’t think you’d ever stop buying? Let me know in the comments below. If you want to join in the discussion on Twitter, follow @SensibleReview, or like our Facebook page.
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