Generic Brands may hurt your self-esteem

© Can Stock Photo Inc. / Nevenova

What do you think about name brands?

I’ve used my own name “Danny Pettry” as a name brand for my “Rec Therapy CEUs™ program since 2007.

Here is an interesting study about generic brands and what they do to your self-esteem that was posted in the Huffingtonpost:

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/heidi-grant-halvorson-phd/generic-brands-self-esteem_b_889415.html

My experiences:

I was an avid skateboarder during my teenage years.

Of course, during the 90s, there were a lot of people who dressed like and acted like they were
“skaters,” but didn’t skate. Thrasher (the magazine for skaters) identified those people as being “posers.”  I always thought differently at the time about “posers.”
We, skaters, could identify authenticity in skaters. It was in the little things. A scuff mark on the shoes in certain places indicated that a person had skated in those shoes vs. others.
“Alien Workshop” was my favorite skateboard company and was the reason I started to skateboard. I was so inspired by my younger brother’s alien workshop skateboard and how free I felt when riding it for the first time that I had to go out and get one myself! Fun times!

Inauthentic feelings:

One Christmas, my good-intended, carting cousins had purchased imitation alien brand skateboarder shirts. Their gift was well-appreciated. The clothing served a purpose. However, I noticed some things about it. The quality of the shirt was not as good as real, authentic alien workshop clothing. The graphics peeled off quickly. Plus, I knew, while wearing it that it wasn’t authentic. Sure, I wore it several times, but I mostly slept in it before giving it to my younger sister. But I knew my authentic skater friends could spot it right on. 

Personally:

I feel more confident using name brands over generic or imitation brands.I know the real company has a lot more to lose (in customer loyalty), so they provide their best products. Of course, there have been times, when I thought I was being a smaRT shopper when I purchased generic batteries at an affordable price. I realized the mistake quickly when I took about two photos with my digital camera and the battery had died. I tried another batter from the pack and the same thing happened. I threw away all of the imitation batteries and went to the local CVS and purchased real, authentic, name-brand batteries that worked and lasted, which was a smart buying choice. 

What could do they lose?

An imitation brand doesn’t have as much to lose. It isn’t their real name. They can provide a cheap quality, imitated product are “riding the coattails” of the real brand, but associated that their (generic brand) is the real thing. The imitation brand can easily shut-down and open up with a new imitation brand.