4 ms·

I'm surprised he knew what brands of running shoes or tomato sauce he wanted. Confronted with a selection of functionally identical boxes at the supermarket or

by aphyr 17y ago

I'm surprised he knew what brands of running shoes or tomato sauce he wanted. Confronted with a selection of functionally identical boxes at the supermarket or shoe store, I frequently stand stymied for several minutes. Eventually I realize that there is no efficient choice possible on the basis of packaging, and resort to making selections by unit price--or choosing a randomly distributed sample in hopes of remembering the results.

mos1 17y ago
For tomato sauce, I use the ingredients list to differentiate.
- barber 17y ago
  Which is also something you might want to consider when buying Shampoo.
aaronbrethorst 17y ago
Why is that surprising? I'm sure we tend to have very strong recall when it comes to positive brand associations. Good shoes make your feet comfortable. Good tomato sauce tastes good (yum!). Shampoo, um, cleans your hair. You'd probably be really aware of the brand if you had a dandruff problem, or something similar, though. I'm sure you know what brand of computer you're using right now or, if you built your own, what brand of CPU, video card, RAM and hard drive you installed in it. For me, I can tell you without a moment's hesitation that I use the following brands for the listed product categories: Laptop: Apple Phone: Apple Shoes: Puma Jeans: Diesel Pasta sauce: Newman's Own But, with shampoo: beats me, whatever was on sale at Costco. Interestingly, in 3 out of 4 aforementioned known brands, I almost always shop in their branded stores for their products. (on a related note: I'd love to find a Paul Newman-branded grocery store. that would be killer).
sliverstorm 17y ago
If you have been a consumer long enough you realize certain brands tend to cater to your interests. In the case of shoes, there used to be a very very clear trend- Nike fit my feet how I wanted and fit what I wanted in a shoe. Now there is another trend to replace that one, as Nike shoes stopped matching what I wanted. Puma fills that category now. It helps if you have a clear idea of what you want. I, for example, like extremely minimal shoes. Think like a ballet slipper, except a little more sturdy so it can put up with rocks and concrete and stuff.

by aphyr 17y ago

mos1 17y ago

For tomato sauce, I use the ingredients list to differentiate.

barber 17y ago
Which is also something you might want to consider when buying Shampoo.

aaronbrethorst 17y ago

Why is that surprising? I'm sure we tend to have very strong recall when it comes to positive brand associations. Good shoes make your feet comfortable. Good tomato sauce tastes good (yum!). Shampoo, um, cleans your hair. You'd probably be really aware of the brand if you had a dandruff problem, or something similar, though. I'm sure you know what brand of computer you're using right now or, if you built your own, what brand of CPU, video card, RAM and hard drive you installed in it. For me, I can tell you without a moment's hesitation that I use the following brands for the listed product categories: Laptop: Apple Phone: Apple Shoes: Puma Jeans: Diesel Pasta sauce: Newman's Own But, with shampoo: beats me, whatever was on sale at Costco. Interestingly, in 3 out of 4 aforementioned known brands, I almost always shop in their branded stores for their products. (on a related note: I'd love to find a Paul Newman-branded grocery store. that would be killer).

sliverstorm 17y ago

If you have been a consumer long enough you realize certain brands tend to cater to your interests. In the case of shoes, there used to be a very very clear trend- Nike fit my feet how I wanted and fit what I wanted in a shoe. Now there is another trend to replace that one, as Nike shoes stopped matching what I wanted. Puma fills that category now. It helps if you have a clear idea of what you want. I, for example, like extremely minimal shoes. Think like a ballet slipper, except a little more sturdy so it can put up with rocks and concrete and stuff.