Brand groupies. What causes it?

I like many other's, I have favorite brands(s) right now it's HDS, and Peak, in a few days I bet An ARC AAA-P. /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smile.gif

I do though try my best to temper it with a knowledge of many other fine or even better lights in this world.( and i most definately mean the CPF world) I try to talk of only what i own and on threads it is worth adding to the many other light's also worthy of recommendation. And I have
Also posted on threads that I i feel a light i know well is somewhat slighted.
I do try to always be constructive either way, even when say as an example KL-1 is called a laser beam especially because it's not, and shouldn't be misrepresented as such. What I won't do and have never done
is down a light cause it's not a HDS, Surefire, or Peak. same goes for music gear I use to make a living. And in that I would say is on the order of 80% tools, 20% hobby.

So what makes a "superfan" that post's one brand and usually one light on everything from small
KC light's to large super one off's?
Please, let's be cival in answering. I really want to know your opinion's cause I don't think liking a certain light differs from one CPFer to another that much, but not to zelotry.

what do you all think? VDG

brand groupie.. well i guess if you buy something from a company and you like it alot then buy another product from the same company and like it alot also then you start to like the company, i think it's only natural.
kinda like when you here a song from a band and you like that song alot, then you here another song from the same band and you like it alot then you start to like the band.

Since this isn't so much about flashlights themselves I'm moving this thread to the Cafe.

i'm sorry.. i think voodoogreg intended this to be for flashlights, and i just gave a generalized answer to his quesion.

ya get stuck on a brand, when you get a GREAT product, and even more so if its a great product for a fair price /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smile.gif
sometimes it is not really convienient, to try 50 different brands and then chose 1 from that, so finding 1 good one might just be sufficient.

i was going to mention SERVICE and WARRENTLY and all that other good stuff, but i wont, because a good product needs no service or warrenty, it might HAVE one, but users should rarely need to apply it.

In best Sigmund Freud voice "Psychoanalytic theory hypothesizes that transference occurs when the patient...." /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/wink.gif

A GREAT brand commands loyalty. I think it's natural that a relationship builds up over time, same with many things. You trust them to get it right. However, unlike marriage, you don't need to only stick to one brand /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/wink.gif and brand loyalty does NOT have a requirement to put every other brand down.

For example, I love Surefire lights but I have no problems recommending another good or better light over them when the occasion arises. Like say, the SF L1 vs the HDS Basic 42. The 42 wins hands down at that particular price point (both have an MSRP of $125) and I call it like it is. There are also other occasions where I may not use the hardware or be familiar with it, but I respect the competition for what it can do. I own more SF lights (10) than other brands of light, but at the same time, 2/3rds of my collection are other brands (various others).

Now, BLIND loyalty to the point of exclusion of everything else, now that's gotta be more than a bit unhealthy.

Sometimes people like to stick with what they know. If they have a good experiance with one brand, then they may just stick with that brand. There is comfort and convenience in sticking with one brand.

Surefire, for instance, has an excellent reputation and warranty. There is also somewhat of a status associated with Surefire even among those who do not know flashlights that well.

It would be interesting to know which of the manufacturers sparks the most brand groupies.

That would depend where you ask that question ... /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif
On CPF it might be Surefire et al, but on the street ... Maglight /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smile.gif
bernie

I'll bet it has something to do with the "investment".


I read a paper years ago that explained why there were Ford fans and GM fans. There are even VW Bug fans. By anyone's standards, a 1960 VW Bug will not compare well with most any other car. It's just not a great car. Cute, yes. Economic, yes. Great, no.


So the paper did a lot of interviews and concluded that people developed brand loyalty because they were defending their decision to buy it. If you pick any large purchase, the tendancy is to either praise it or regret it. There's not a lot inbetween.

Example; Suppose I spend $25,000 on a new Ford F150 pickup truck. Before I plop down that much cash I'm going to convince myself that I really need it, and that it's the best in the class. I have to justify spending that much money. Very few people decide that a similarly priced Chevy is better and then buy the Ford anyway.

Now back to flashlights. Before I plunk down $100 for a flashlight, it has to have a certain value. It has to be special. Chances are that I will not buy a $100 light and then tell folks that it was a bad decision. It's more likely that I will praise the light, and therefore support my decsion to buy.

That said, there are some fantastic lights and great people out there that deserve to be recognized for their skills and products.

Daniel

Check out http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cognitive_dissonance for a good theory explaining "superfans" if by that term you mean the ones who go irrational at any hint they could have made a better decision in a particular situation.

Otherwise, I agree with the "comfort and convenience" reasoning. If I don't have time to do the research or it's a trivial purchase I'll go with a brand I've had good experience with.

Compulsive disorder

I think a lot of brand loyalty has to do with both an amount of laziness and frustration. Trying to figure out what is the best when there are a lot of choices takes a certain amount of time and a lot of people are not very good at researching what is and isn't the best. It is easier to find something that works and stick with it than each time you buy something have to go back and reresearch from scratch every available option over again. Brand loyalty is based on value and trust and trying to find both of those causes a lot of frustration when you have a dozen choices perhaps and no one you can truly trust with knowing which is the best or not. I am sure everyone has bought something in their life from a recommendation from someone else or a review and later regretted it either because it was not as good as hyped or you got the *rare lemon*.

In order for a person to do good research they must either be a judge of good character and reviews an/or be intelligent enough to sift through endless contradicting sometimes misleading and hyped adverts and opinions and find enough of the truth to choose wisely.
I have found at times you have to buy a certain amount of lemons in order to learn which brands you can prescribe a certain amount of loyalty to.

The sickening thing is... manufacturers having to cut corners due to falling profits have caused many once trusted quality brands to compete equally with no name brands for market share. Essentially many quality brands have turned sour due to falling profits pushing them to the brink of bankrupcy and unable to change from high quality at a high price to good quality at a reasonable price. I have seen them sacrifice too much quality for not good enough price hoping the brand loyalists would bite, and I have been bitten by such practices.

Note: this applies generically to all items/brands, not to just flashlights.

[ QUOTE ]
VidPro said:
ya get stuck on a brand, when you get a GREAT product, and even more so if its a great product for a fair price /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smile.gif

[/ QUOTE ]

You know, I don't think that last phrase "even more so if its a great product for a fair price" is really true, even if you were just joking. The hardest-core loyalty tends to be towards more expensive brands: the combination of top-notch product plus a pricetag that that limits the number of people that can buy in (and hence give a feeling of being elite) is what tends to generate the strongest brand loyalty. In the knife world, there are people who love CRKT, but it's nothing like the fervor of those who love strider or Emerson. In flashlights, there's much more zealousness towards Surefires than there is towards Maglite.

The strongest brand loyalty, IMO, tends to be the combination of good quality plus elite ownership group (eliteness can be generated by price, limited product distribution, limited knowledge of the product, limited availability, etc.). It also tends to generate its own reaction against the product as well, as curmudgeons chop the brand loyalists back down here and there.

I'd say the comments about self-assurance are logical. You spend a lot of money on something expensive and you want to defend it's legitimacy as a reasonable purchase.

I can see why people would be loyal to a brand they've had a good experience with. They just want to pass on the great experience, since they feel confident their experience could be shared by other people if they get the same brand. So whenever one of those "What's the best light for..." threads comes up on CPF for example, they readily provide their suggestion.

That last scenario is where I take issue. I think it's better to tailor your advice to the situation, not convince someone that flashlight X (from a brand you fervently support) is what they need. If someone says they want a few lights to give to their kids, would you suggest little Surefire L1's? Some might say "great idea, the L1 can certainly take the abuse" which is not untrue...but the solution is illogical in my opinion since a $15 cheap light will suit the purpose and is not a huge loss if destroyed.

Another example would be someone asking for a light to use while scuba diving. Some might suggest getting a Surefire then getting it waterproofed by them. Am I the only one that thinks this is unreasonable considering that there are plenty of other brands who specifically design their lights for diving and can be bought at much cheaper prices? I'm not questioning that the Surefire could do it, it just seems like too much expense, when another light (and brand) could do the same job for cheaper.

To wrap it all up in a nice little bow, I see no problem with enjoying and supporting a good brand. If your loyalty extends to the point where you cannot see other solutions with other brands that will surpass or better suit a specific situation though, that's where it becomes problematic in my view.

If you really want to see brand loyalty, the xbox vs sonyPS adherents are fanatical

Don't I know it. My current job is with video games and I hear all sorts of brand loyalty banter. Personally I own all three major systems and can see the benefits of any of them...which is why I have them all heh. I can definitely see that not all people can afford this though, so I always ask questions to figure out which system will be better suited to the household it will be going into; what system(s)/games they already have/play, who will play it the most, what kinds of games are wanted, what some "must have" features are etc.

Wow I didn't expect such a turnout. many here are have put similar and sensable post's I do agree with.Along the lines
of the a good experiance of say SF HDS etc, they do what you want, and tend to be reliable and still perform the way expected from that maker.
(and as first time user usually finds out, way above a mag lite.) We then build bond's based on many factor's already mentioned. This is pretty normal to me.

It's the ones I see posted for say a mag solitaire size lux with two levels,, and twice someone post's "get a loincub! do all that and more!" when it's obvious it's not what the thread starter has in mind. Or a company that has had up's and Down's, and get's a pass while another doesn't,, that always hit's me funny. I See this with FLs even more then with guitar amp forum's that are discussing merit's of 3-5K amps(example cause it's one of the few forum
places I go to, sounds like gaming is another)

Weird as it is, it makes for some good threads! And i am not innocent, If I see a post on multi level lights i will mention HDS, a small good throwing LED?, KL-1.
I do notice the real heavy zelots more often then oft enough are pitching for customs. even when some Customs come out needing more tweeking, redesigned parts to take advantage of it's abilities. Of course imho ymmv. VDG

I can only speak of brand loyalty in a few areas...

In Ford vs. Chevy: Way back in '89 I drove first a used Chevy 1/2 ton with a 350 and Auto. Then I got into a used F150 with a 6cyl and 5 speed. I HATED the Chevy, dug the Ford and it has been so ever since.

In flashlights I don't really have fanaticism. I have more M*gs than anything else.

In food, no other brand of Ice Cream beats Blue Bell. No cereal meant to be Honey Bunches of Oats tastes as good as the real thing. Otherwis I'm pretty flexible.

I get more hung up on a subject than on actual things...

I guess the closest I come to brand loyalty is for Sony products. Given a choice they usually get the nod. I suppose part of the decision is based only on perception, but experience is the largest factor.

Geoff