Brand loyalty, or blindness? AKA, Ford vs. Chevy

Reminds me of a buddy that thinks no one makes better power tools than DeWalt.
 
Most of us here have addictive personalities to one extent or another (ranging from the mild to the ghastly extremes) and brand loyalty can be part of the justification.

I don't think anyone with more than 10 posts on any knife message board is actually looking for the best value (performance relative to price) in a knife type to just get the thing and be done with these places.
 
I think a person is loyal to a certain brand because it has become part of his personal identity. After a while that brand becomes "him" and any affront to it is viewed as a direct attack on his person. It goes like this: "I like brand A, if you think brand A is not good, then you must think I'm stupid for liking it. I'll tell you who's stupid." Just saying that you don't like brand A or that you've discovered something wrong about a product of brand A does not automatically mean saying all brand A customers are stupid. But, it doesn't matter to them because people with low self esteem are sensitive to everything to begin with.
 
I too am surprised by the loyalty people also have to certain businesses.
We have an auto repair shop here that a guy at work recommended to me. I went there and they told me some things were wrong with my truck that COULD NOT be wrong, as I had just replaced those parts. A radiator hose dosen't need replacing after 4 months !
I confronted the owner with the info and he really didn't say much.
I went somewhere else and explained my experience to my co-worker. He may trust these guys, but I felt it was important for him to know that they tried to rip me off. He insisted that they are great guys, know what they are doing, etc.

We also have become to be so intolerant of opinions, but I think people GIVE you an opinion so oddly sometimes too.

They'll say "If you want it done right, you need to go to Bob's Auto Barn, cause everyone else sucks."
How about" Bob's Auto Barn has tearted us well when we used them."
MAybe it's all semantics.
 
As I get older I am better at determining peoples personalities, and will not waste time trying to educate someone about knives that thinks they know it all.

However, there are people who really want to become educated, and after a short discussion realize that they know very little. Those people I spend time with.

As long as peoples opinions, even strong ones, don't affect the way I live - I'm ok with it.

I'm also not so stuck in the mud that I hold onto an opinion for life. Car companies & knife companies, much like other companies, change over time, and I think it's foolish to develop a love/hate relationship based solely on past experiences.
 
If I have good luck with a certain item or brand, I will gladly let someone know.

That does not mean I will bash them for buying brand x when I have brand y and it has been good to me.

A co-worker was looking for new tires for his truck. I told him I have had very good luck with Dayton tires. He checked them out but decided to go with a cheaper brand. Fine by me. I offered my opinion on what has served me well.

If he is happy and they last a long time, great. If he has problems with them I will not bash him for not buying the brand I suggested.

It is up to us to make informed decisions, no one else.
 
Do you ever get the feeling that even if you had an identical knife to your "friend"...yours would still somehow be a lesser example?
 
I think that no small part of the 'fanboi' phenomenon, is a desire to belong to a group or 'tribe' if you will. In this day and age of blurred boundaries, a person will seek out a group to belong to and then adopt rules of membership to help to define the 'self'. We need look no further than street gangs, political affiliations, religions or even organizations such as Rotary or the Masons.

Belonging to a group fulfills the inherent social nature of a person. If a person wishes to define themselves as a Kershaw person or a Spyderco individual, far be it from me condemn their choice. Personally, I am content to just be a 'knife guy'.
 
Mathew J said:
Dude I feel ya but unfortunately this occurs in virtually every circle and is even worse in groups like this....

For example some of my interests include, watches, pens, stereo gear, and lighters.

In all of them which have discussion forums there are always those who are enamoured with various brands for no tangible reason when compared to others which are arguably as good but for less money.
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What forum discusses lighters?
 
unit said:
Do you ever get the feeling that even if you had an identical knife to your "friend"...yours would still somehow be a lesser example?
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Yeah, I know exactly what you are talking about there, it's not just knives either.
 
i don't play that game. I do my best to always choose the most product for the money.
 
Do not see anything wrong with collecting one brand. Or collecting few brands... Neither approach makes you smarter than the next guy.
I always do my best to choose the knife which gives me the most pleasure to own. :D
 
unit said:
Do you ever get the feeling that even if you had an identical knife to your "friend"...yours would still somehow be a lesser example?
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This is not just a feeling. There's this guy I know, exact same Glock 22 but his is somehow better(according to him) even though I have better groups. LOL

He also competes in precision airgun, and he also says his gun is better than precisely the same models owned by his fellows.

me: shakes my head in confusion.

I like how truisms are sometimes verbalized in these kinds of threads.
 
Your subject line says it all:

Ford vs Chevy

Bud vs Miller

Windows vs Apple

Packers vs Steelers (just had to add that :D)

I don't really think there's any logic behind it, people just like what they like, and to top it off, people always seem to have a strong opinion on what they like...:rolleyes:
 
its one thing to get a knife because you know the company has a good reputation both in quality, and custermer service, or whatever, but it is another to categorically dismiss a brand because of some negative atitudes .
 
Tsujigiri said:
What forum discusses lighters?
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I usually find them on subsets of other forums, or there were a good deal of enthusiasts with smoking communities online, used to be alot of interest in the alt.smoking.cigars and pipes group, but alot of it has died down as smoking and tobacco is out of vogue for many/most. Doesn't matter much anyway as quality manufacturers are few and far between, top two being Dunhill and Dupont, followed by Davidoff (rebranded Duponts), Cartier (super hard to find), and IM Corona

There was one dedicated forum but it was really short lived with virtually no posts.
 
iandh said:
So, I've been rather frustrated lately by certain interactions with people regarding knives. I'm going to leave brand names out of my post, because IMO it will just muddy the water.

How is it that some people are so entranced with brand name(s), that they are completely unable to make an objective assesment of quality versus value, and in some cases even willing to overlook horrible ergonomics and aesthetics to maintain brand loyalty?

A recent case occured in which I showed a friend a new knife that I'd aquired, that sells in the $100 range. It is a well known, and well respected brand. He also is a knife enthusiast, and immediately pulls another well known, well respected brand from his pocket, that sells in the $200 range.



He states, "You should have looked at [insert his knife brand], they are the best".

I ask, "Why is that? I purchased [insert my knife brand/model] based upon ergonomics and price, and price vs. quality. I don't really care about the brand or the price, as long as the knife is of a good quality and suits my needs."

He answers, "Well, you should just buy [insert his brand], they are the best."



This completely baffles me, as this individual is well educated, and what I would consider to be intelligent. What causes a person to make this type of irrational, baseless decision based upon brand name only? I understand if someone says, "I just like the sound of the name and how the logo looks", beacuse at least that has some type of logic behind it.

Calling one knife superior to another, simply because it is a certain brand that must be better than another certain brand only due to that individual's perception, completely defies all logical thought in my opinion.

What is it that causes otherwise intelligent people to make absolutely absurd, self-destructive, and illogical assumptions like this? Is there actually some type of psychological phenomenon behind this?
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Odd. None my friends think that way. Perhaps the trouble is you are counting the wrong folks as "friends".

I'd hang around here a spell before assuming that the majority of folks here think this way.
 
Mathew J said:
I usually find them on subsets of other forums, or there were a good deal of enthusiasts with smoking communities online, used to be alot of interest in the alt.smoking.cigars and pipes group, but alot of it has died down as smoking and tobacco is out of vogue for many/most. Doesn't matter much anyway as quality manufacturers are few and far between, top two being Dunhill and Dupont, followed by Davidoff (rebranded Duponts), Cartier (super hard to find), and IM Corona

There was one dedicated forum but it was really short lived with virtually no posts.
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Ah, thanks. That's been my impression as well; that there aren't very many quality manufacturers unless you're willing to spend hundreds of dollars.
 
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