Name Brand vs Store Brand

When it comes to purchasing, many consumers only buy top-name brands, even if there are inexpensive store brands available. Marketing is the only sound reason for this decision amongst consumers, especially since many of the stores offer products that are identical, or at least very close to the top-name brand products, for a significantly lesser amount.

Trying to determine if store labels can really compete with the top-name brands is simple. Consumers only need to read the ingredient labels and, of course, the price tag to decide if the name-brand product is really offering more for the money.

Ingredients

When looking at the label of various generic products or products that carry a store brand name, the ingredients are often identical. The active ingredient in aspirin or other medications clearly shows consumers that the dosage and the ingredient is many times the same as leading brands. Household products, food items and other products often share similar and sometimes identical ingredients between generic store labels and leading name brand labels.

Cost

The cost for leading brands is often on average 25 percent more than brands that boast a store or generic label. There are leading name brands that cost as much as 60 percent more than store products of similar or identical makeup. In fairness, there are a small amount of products offered with a major store name label that are similar in cost compared to the leading brands.

Packaging

Packaging is the main difference between name brand and generic or store-labeled products. The leading brand products provide a colorful, fun and familiar look, while the store label is often unfamiliar and lacking in color and excitement.

Large companies that create the name brands have a large marketing budget, so it is easy to create ad campaigns that people remember and trust. Stores are often limited to in-store fliers or circulars to advertise the brands it offers.

When it comes to comparison, the products boasting a store label come out ahead on cost, often sit side by side with ingredients, and fall behind on marketing when compared to the top brands.

Store label foods may have slightly different ingredients, but they still offer the same quality when compared to the top-name brands, and the cost is considerably less in most cases. The same is true with household products, and although the scents and packaging may differ slightly between the store products and the leading brands, the cost is on average 25 percent less for store products. On certain medications, the active ingredient is identical between the store or generic brand when compared to the leading brand, and the cost is up to 60 percent lower for generic.

If people spent more time reading the labels on products before they purchased them, they would ultimately spend less money. The marketing campaigns offered by the leading companies dominate when it comes to consumer recognition and buyer brand trust. However, if consumers consider switching to a store or generic brand, the savings could be staggering.

Photo courtesy of C x 2 at Flickr.com