We all have our favorite brands of products. While we may not be brand loyal to every item we place in our grocery cart, there may be particular items for which we will willingly pay a little more, simply because we prefer them.
What about when you have a coupon for an alternative brand? Will you choose to purchase a different product than your ‘regular’ brand when you have a coupon offering you a few cents — or dollars off? What factors determine whether a coupon changes your buying habits or not?
I recently posed the question, “What do coupons mean for brand loyalty in your shopping cart?” to some savvy shoppers. There seems to be two major schools of thought as to why a coupon would entice them to break away from brand loyalty. Here’s what the shoppers said:
Opinion 1: I will try a new product with a coupon if the coupon makes the new product cheaper than my regular brand.
Anna M. Aquino, who is a writer and stay-at-home mom, declares, “Couponing blows my brand loyalty out of the water. Sorry brands — you know I love you, but we’re all trying to save money these days. I’m not a major couponer, but I can save about 20 to 30 dollars a month. Absolutely, couponing changes my brand loyalty.”
Shelley Frady has a savvy shopping blog, www.savorthesavings.com. She says, “I also teach coupon classes and one main point in the class is to let brand loyalty fly out the window on the way to the store. Couponing will allow you to try other products that you may like better than the brand you were loyal to very cheap or even free at times.”
Opinion 2: I will use a coupon to help rationalize purchasing a new product.
“Although loyalty is a driver of behavior, so is spontaneous brand switching: We quickly become habituated to the ‘same old thing’ and we like to try something that is slightly (but not radically) new or different,” explains Michael S. Minor, Ph.D., Professor of Marketing and International Business, College of Business Administration, University of Texas-Pan American. “A coupon from another brand is an incentive to try a (slightly) new product.”
Savvy shopper Shelley says, “Sure, I have my favorite brands but couponing allows me to try others. I can not think of anything I am brand loyal to. I have many brands that I prefer but it doesn’t mean I won’t pass them right by if I have a coupon for another.”
Of course, these two major reasons for abandoning brand loyalty can be combined, as Carletta S. Hurt, Ed.S. says: “I use coupons to assist with purchasing products I enjoy (brand loyalty) and to give me options to test out a new product at an affordable (less) rate. Also, I look at the price per unit which helps me see if the coupon is really giving me a better deal — brand or not, I want the best bang for my money.”
For the savviest of shoppers, brand loyalty – or the lack of it – probably does come down to that combination of determining factors: The opportunity to expand our choices while saving the maximum amount of money on our grocery purchases.
What factors will challenge your brand loyalty?
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