As I contemplate, but stop myself, from buying a new television, I have begun to think about brand loyalty. The idea that you can be completely loyal to one company, whether large or small, when buying the products you use in daily life. The television is making me contemplate this largely because this might be the only area in which I have brand loyalty, and it’s making me think about how such loyalty is created in people.
Let’s go with my personal case. My television, the one that is good enough to stop me from buying a replacement, is a Panasonic. While I might pretend that I have done a great deal of research into buying this television, I went with the Panasonic because my parents had a Panasonic and it was pretty good, so presumably if I bought a television of the same brand it would also be pretty good. I wasn’t even wrong, this television has been broadcasting everything I’ve needed it to for close to ten years, has been pretty much completely reliable and even still looks fairly good. So naturally, when looking for a new television, I began looking for Panasonic, even though I haven’t found one I can afford yet it’s still what I gravitate toward.
Were there better televisions when I bought mine? Probably. But my brand loyalty meant that I didn’t have to think very much about televisions, and then got one I was happy with for many years. This is the appeal of brand loyalty, if you can find a brand that is making things that you generally like, you don’t have to think about those things very hard. And honestly there’s a lot of stuff I’m totally fine with not taking up much of my mental space. If I get a reliable TV without spending any time researching it or really doing much in the way of thought, good for me. I walked into a business, walked out with a television, and have enjoyed using that television for years since.
But in other spheres I can’t say I have the same brand loyalty. I bought my car because I liked that car the best, and while I also happened to like the business and the people selling it the best that actually didn’t enter into my purchasing decision – I drove an excessive number of cars before making that decision, because I would be annoyed if I discovered I liked a different car more. This would be the vehicle I was stuck with for the next several years, I had to make sure it was the right vehicle, and that I wasn’t going to throw my money into something I regret. Arguably, the car was more important than the TV, being significantly more expensive and complicated. But it’s still interesting to see a completely different purchasing motivation and lack of loyalty for that product.
So why am I loyal about some stuff, and not others? In my case, it seems to be based mostly on how important that object feels to me. The car is very important to me, I like cars, like driving and want to have the best driving experience I can, even if I’m making a short hop to work. The TV, by contrast, is a passive device, I just look at it to see images but don’t really care about it otherwise, I want something that works so I don’t have to worry about buying another TV very soon. So I’m happy with a screen that’s not on the cutting edge but has never let me down, and want to keep buying from a company that makes things that clearly work.
Sometimes people aren’t as confident in their brand loyalty, because there’s a suspicion they might have made a mistake. They want to say mean things about someone else’s choice because that way it confirms they made the right one. That’s why you get so many people making jokes about other people’s trucks, for example – if you buy a modern pickup, it’s going to be reliable and tow or haul anything you need to, but you don’t want to entertain the thought that you could have bought the wrong truck thanks to that same loyalty. And it applies to political parties, that’s why there are people who make incredibly stupid images on social media to share that exist entirely to defame the successful person they didn’t vote for. The attack happens partially out of loyalty, partially because they simply don’t want to admit they might be wrong, and aggressively going after the competition is a good way to prove you’re right.
That’s why brand loyalty can be dangerous, when it’s actually important you don’t want to be stuck trying to defend a choice that you are not sure is right. It’s fine in the case of small things, like televisions, or phones, but if it’s actually important, you want to be open to the idea you might have been wrong, or that the best choice for yourself is not the best choice for everyone. Attacking the choices of others is about trying to protect yourself from the thought that you could be wrong about something. Instead of attacking someone else for brand loyalty, just be happy that you made a choice that works for yourself.
