brand loyalty

kemplefan · Feb 9, 2006

this mite not belong here but i am puting it here anyway
have you noticed tha tpeople are loyal toa brand nikon, canon, minolta , i know i am

PachelbelsCanon350D · Feb 9, 2006

mos def....it's nothing new. I'm loyal to Canon photography equipment, Apple computers, Honda automobiles, New Balance running shoes, Pilot pens, and Eight O'Clock coffee.

markc · Feb 9, 2006

Yeah. I used to feel that way, but as I got older, it started to seem more and more silly, to but it bluntly. I can understand loyalty to friends and familty, but to a brand? It feels to me to be more about justifying a choice. "I chose brand X over brand Y when I bought this thingy. Brand X must be better, otherwise I made a bad choice." I still catch myself doing it, but I believe it gets in the way of choosing the best piece for the job at hand.

There are so many variables, how can you say what's "best"? For my everyday home computer, I felt that Windows XP was my best choice because I was going to be using it for games as well as photo editing. I'm picky about games as it is, and the Windows platform offers the best variety for computer gaming. When I set up my media server, I felt Linux was my best choice. It's very stable and could run on a cheap, low powered, and quiet machine. For some people, a Mac would be their best choice for a home machine. For others, OpenBSD. It all depends.

I'm partial to Mopars. I love their muscle cars from the 60s and 70s, and have owned several. But I have also owned a Toyota, a Nissan, and others. Each one was what I felt was the best choice at the time. If I had limited myself to only Chrysler, I might have had to gone without a car, or gotten one in such bad shape that it fell apart on me.

One of my pet peeves is when people make blanket recommendations based only on their personal experiences. It's not uncommon to see someone say "Buy this!" only because they've owned one and liked it, with no consideration for the other person's needs or situation.

/rant

zedin · Feb 9, 2006

I have brand loyalty mainly so I can use all my lenses =p When I got my film SLR I got nikon because I had a friend who would loan me some lenses at times and he had nikon. And when I eventually got my dSLR this winter I got nikon so I could use my same lenses and extention tubes. If I had lots of cash I would probably try out several brands but until that day.. I am a nikon guy.

kfoster · Feb 9, 2006

My brand loyalty is based on previous experience. If Ive bought something and it hasnt performed as expected or doesnt last as expected I will switch brands without hesitation. But if Ive had a good experience with a particular brand I will be very loyal. Even though the bad experience with a brand may have been a fluke, it will take almost an act of god for me to buy another one of their products.

My brand loyalty is as follows. Nikon, Sony ES, Polk Audio, Denon, Mitsubishi VCR's, Sony TV's and Small electronics, Honda, Craftsman, Porter Cable, and Yuengling.

K

DocFrankenstein · Feb 9, 2006

I used to be loyal to canon... but now I'm just buying whatever stuff will get the job done.

I think I'll pick canon bodies because the AF is good and low ISO performance is excellent with digital.

As for lenses... I think I'll get a german sonnar. And a nikon wide angle. And a russian fishy.... and maybe russian 85mm because it has 16 blades...

And I have vivitar flashes.

No loyalty here.

PachelbelsCanon350D · Feb 9, 2006

PachelbelsCanon350D said:
mos def....it's nothing new. I'm loyal to Canon photography equipment, Apple computers, Honda automobiles, New Balance running shoes, Pilot pens, and Eight O'Clock coffee.

Markc is right, it is silly without a reason. I don't go so far as to recommend these products to people without thinking first about what they want....but they are the products I love.

Canon because it's comfortable for me. I know their menus, their button positioning, etc. and it just feels like home; Nikons and Minoltas are awesome cameras but feel alien to me.

Apple computers, again because it's a comfort thing. I love OSX and they've been the industry standard for graphic design, and still are, (not because they are superior, but it just happened that way) so they are nice and comfy and "everyone else has one" in my career.

Honda automobiles because they repeatedly...again and again and again...kick @$$ on tests for reliability and gas mileage, and I like the way they look.

New Balance running shoes because they feel awesome on my feet.

Eight O'Clock Coffee because it tastes the best to my taste buds.

Polygon · Feb 10, 2006

Only when it comes to cameras and for the sole reason that switching is expensive. No way would I defend my current choice (Nikon) if they produced a bad product.

Soul Rebel · Feb 10, 2006

I dont think brand loyalty is a silly thing. If I were to buy and use 2-3 Nikon cameras and had nothing but problems and then I were to buy 2-3 Olympus cameras and had nothing but good things happen then I have a right to form a brand loyalty.

I am loyal to AMD processors, Kingston memory and Western Digital HD's because these are the companies that have provided me with equipment that has given me no problems.

Brand loyalty is silly when you are loyal because you think you are supposed to be. If a friend says that they like a camera then you become loyal, then its silly. But when that loyalty is based off experience, I think its perfectly fine.

markc · Feb 10, 2006

The reason I called it silly is because to me it implies that a person will buy that brand without assessing what's available from others. Brand can play a part in how I determine what I'm going to buy, but it doesn't have a huge impact. I've had good stuff from Epson, and I've had crap (anyone remember the inks from the 1270?) The same applies to most brands. It's true that some companies have better track records than others, but that's just one aspect I look at.

In your example above, if someone were only to buy Nikons from then on without looking at what else is out there, then yeah, I'd call that a bit silly. This doesn't apply to someone who's made an investment in glass and so buys a body to match when upgrading. That's not loyalty, that's assessing the situation and making a smart money choice.

Soul Rebel · Feb 10, 2006

markc said:
The reason I called it silly is because to me it implies that a person will buy that brand without assessing what's available from others. Brand can play a part in how I determine what I'm going to buy, but it doesn't have a huge impact. I've had good stuff from Epson, and I've had crap (anyone remember the inks from the 1270?) The same applies to most brands. It's true that some companies have better track records than others, but that's just one aspect I look at.

In your example above, if someone were only to buy Nikons from then on without looking at what else is out there, then yeah, I'd call that a bit silly. This doesn't apply to someone who's made an investment in glass and so buys a body to match when upgrading. That's not loyalty, that's assessing the situation and making a smart money choice.

I agree. I really dont have a huge brand loyalty. Only when it comes to buying computer parts and even then I can be swayed easily. Its just that when I need something such as memory or CPU I need it work and I need it to work. Buying from a company I have had experience with is just easier.

markc · Feb 10, 2006

Oh yeah. I defintely agree with that. It's not like there's much else to buying memory than getting it from someone who makes it well. I'll usually just go to Crucial or Micron.

airgunr · Feb 11, 2006

I always thought I'd be loyal to Canon since it was the first "Real" camera I bought back in the early 70's. When I decided to upgrade and get a AF I thought I'd just stick with Canon.

I ended up with Nikon, so much for brand loyalty.