The Disadvantages of Brand Loyalty

Brand loyalty is a fierce and persistent commitment to one brand of a product or service. Since the brand meets all of the consumer’s needs, such as price and features, she purchases it again and again. Brand loyalty also occurs when a consumer has a positive experience with or opinion of the company that sells the product. You may feel comfortable and secure when you use the same brand repeatedly, but think of the potential disadvantages as well.

Overpaying

When you’re loyal to one brand, you may miss out on similar products that offer the same features at a better price. For instance, if you focus on the brand name of a pain medication alone, you could overlook a perfectly viable generic brand available at a lower cost that provides the same benefits. Sometimes being too loyal to one brand could cloud your judgment when shopping for consumer goods.

Discontinuation

You must also consider the possibility that the manufacturer of your favorite brand could discontinue the product down the line. At some point the product manufacturer may find that it’s no longer financially viable to sell that item and choose to either change the product or eliminate it completely. When you become too attached to one brand that you’ve purchased for years it’s sometimes difficult to transition to other options.

Missing Out on Features

While the quality of the product you purchase loyally may meet your basic needs, you may limit yourself by remaining loyal to one brand without investigating other choices. You could miss out on a similar product from a different provider that meets your basic needs plus provides you with additional benefits over your current brand. For instance, if you’re loyal to one brand of cereal for its fiber content, you could miss out on a cereal that has the same fiber content but also provides you with your daily requirement of certain vitamins and minerals.

Suggestion

One way to combat these potential disadvantages of remaining loyal to one brand while not giving up your favorite product completely is to purchase trial sizes of competing products. So for instance, keep your favorite shampoo on hand, but purchase a few different trial sizes of competing shampoos to try out at home. If you find that another brand works well (or better) you can then purchase the regular size in the future or keep it in mind as a backup option.