It all depends on where or what you are doing with brand names, as they say, you get what you pay for. I shop at ALDE's grocery and found some very comparable items to brand names.. but it really boils down to taste. Clothing, I could care less about.. I get whats on sale. Sometimes all you really are buying is the brand name.

ALDI's Clancy's Rippled Potato Chips in the yellow and blue bag are the best potato chips in the entire world and have destroyed every competitor I've ever seen them go up against in a blind taste test. I do A LOT of blind taste tests. I think it's because I seem to be surrounded by a lot of brand whores that need to have this shit proved to them. My mom even claims that even after her national brand lost when she couldn't see them, that when she can see which is which she likes her name brand better. How fucked is that?

DIE HARD ALDI FAN right here. But that doesn't mean I don't objectively evaluate the products I buy. There are several products that ALDI has copied that do not stack up to the national brand in blind taste tests, so I still buy the national brand. It's purely based on a quality/cost ratio though. Some products are almost as good as national but half the price, so it's worth the loss of quality. I buy NOTHING simply for the name though (including clothes).

My cereal has to be Honey Bunch of Oats...and soda the real Coca- Cola.....other than that cannot think of anything

There is a website called brandless, if you wanna check that out. I haven't bought anything from them, just letting you know there are movements to remove brands and just sell "Organic peas" or "Potato crisps" instead of Dole and Pingles.

Just like you said, it depends. When I have a chance to buy a box of no name or lesser known name of 250 tissues for $1 instead of a box of Kleenex with 250 for $4 then I get the no name every time.

When it comes to electronics, I only try to buy the best. Name brands are usually the best quality and last longer.

I prefer generic items

Usually I don't pay much attention to brand names, unless it's something that I've already settled on. For example, living in America's Dairyland, the very best cheese is found at a cheese factory, where the brand tends to be specific to the factory itself. On the other hand, you can't find Velveeta at a cheese factory.

In some cases, after trying a few brands, including store brands, I settle on a brand that I like. The advantage of big brands is that you can find them at most any store, where a store brand tends to be specific to a particular store or store chain. Of course, the disadvantage of big brands is that part of what you're paying for is the brand -- it typically costs more than the store brand.

Brand names I've used for years include Miracle Whip, Oscar Meyer (especially bacon,) and when I used to drink it had to be Jack Daniel's Old No. 7. Also, every single computer I have used for the last 15+ years has been a Dell. I am far less tied to a brand for things like mustard, bottled water, coffee, TV dinners, etc.

So, I guess, it really depends on what it is, but I don't typically go for a brand name simply for the fact that it's a national brand.

I tend to be very loyal to certain household and personal products because I'm allergic to floral scents, and it's harder than you'd think to find things without it (for instance, I can enjoy the scent of oranges, but not of orange blossoms).

Food is another matter. I'll try off-brand products for everyday use, but I'm fussier with my baking. Once upon a time I made a cheesecake (which I had made many times before and since) for an event and used store-brand cream cheese ... and it didn't firm up. It also didn't melt well in a dip. So I stick to experimenting when it doesn't matter, but I'm loyal to Philly Brand when it does matter.

I agree about Velveeta. It is brand-specific to me. If that's what I want, nothing else will do.
Overall, I don't rely on brands too much. Although, I have found out the hard way that not all generics are created equal. I've also learned that many of the store brands are equal to their brand-name counterparts. Publix brand items are definitely a good example of this.

When it comes to tools, Stanley brand has a good reputation, so I feel more comfortable buying those tools. Same with Honda cars. I trust them more than most others, because their reputation sits well with me. If a brand has religious connotations, I will most likely stay away from it. When it comes to food, certain brands tend to taste better than others. When it comes to clothing, I couldn't care less.

Quality is number one. If the brand name has the best quality than I will get it. If I find a no name brand with the same or higher quality than I will try the no name brand.

I'm the worst consumer on the planet. All the brand name stuff that matters to me, I don't really have money to buy, like Tesla or lots of Apple merchandise. I could give a shit what anything else is apart from the way it functions.

Peter Pan peanut butter is different from Jif peanut butter. My regular grocer stopped stocking Peter Pan, so I had to go searching. I found a decent substitute in a store brand at another grocer. Lands End shirts. Polo Ralph Lauren boxers. Levi jeans. Ghirardelli dark chocolate. I find store brands usually taste a little different due to cutting corners in production in order to lower cost by not putting as much of one ingredient or the other into the recipe.

Every time I see a certain shade of orange, I get an overwhelming craving for a Reese's cup.

not that much really. I do a bit of research myself. generally, i think really cheap is a false economy and a really expensive named brand is just snobbery like £300 trainers/sneakers are crazy just because of a name.

If I find something cheaper and its of equal quality, I will dump a brand like a hot potato. If there is a quality generic, I will buy that. I may pay more for something made locally or made in the USA

With the exception of Gold Medal Flour, I hardly ever by a brand name product, from toilet paper to frozen pizza. Nearly all your store brand items are made in the same factories as generics. The reason the cost less is they don't have to cover advertising costs. Now, yes, I've been disappointed with some generics. But at least at Kroger stores, there are often several off-label choices, and once I find which is the one I like, I stick to it. Their french bread pizzas, for example, cost $1. They actually have more toppings than the Stouffer's do, $4 for 2. It's half the price.

The Gold Medal Flour? Well, I wrote them after my parents had a fire in the home and mom lost all her pantry cookbooks. A family favorite was a holiday cookie recipe collection she got from a bag of flour in the early 1970's. I wrote to see if they still had it in 2006. It took them 6 months, but one day I got a call from General Mills. Someone found it for me. Best gift I ever gave my mom (she said I didn't give her a gift, I gave a memory). That, to me, is worth a couple extra bucks when I make my cookies,

Strictly case-by-case.

Sometimes it's because you know the product is well-made, reliable, durable, etc. Usually this is clothes for me.

Sometimes it's because something in particular suits you like no no other, like with the fit of shoes or flavor of soda.

Sometimes it's because you like the politics of the company and want to give them your business.

Sometimes its a constellation of factors and sometimes you're whittled down to one option, like my grocery store only carrying one variety of peanut butter that does not contain palm oil (oil palm agriculture kills orangutans, y'all).

Sometimes it's just some weird, pseudo-superstition or nostalgia. These get passed down in families, especially re food.

I mostly only care about brands as a way to identify those products I can trust to be worth the money. Usually that means durability, sometimes it's ethics.

They don't except when they are clearly better. I'll try the generic or store brand and keep buying it if it's the same quality as the brand name.

Brand names tried and tested over many years... Schweppes tonic (far better) vs Canada Dry, American beer (tasteless) vs Euro, American micro brewers far superior to Andheiser, Coors, Miller... (my taste)
I find high end Italian and English shoes (on sale) much better quality than most shoes from Asia, Spain, S A., so few American shoe mfg (SAS, Neil M, Allan Edmunds) their products are more comfortable, longer lasting and worth a few dollars more.
Electronics... so confusing, I’ve read there are only 3 or 4 TV mfrs making 20/30 different brands world wide, same with kitchen appliances.
So... guess I’m “brand conscious”, I do buy cheap bread at Trader Joe’s... read labels, avoid most synthetics (clothing)... reference “snob post”

Brand names don't matter much to me. Usually the same quality exists in an off brand. In fact, sometimes the same product is the off brand. (When there was a recall on peanut butter several years ago, it was specifically Peter Pan peanut butter and a particular off brand. This isn't to say that Peter Pan is all that great, but it illustrates a point: Manufacturers often produce more than they can sell directly, with the extra being sold under a generic or store-brand label. This allows them to continue making profit, even though it's a lower margin than when they sell directly.) When I have nothing better to do, I'll sometimes compare the location on product labels to see which ones match up, suggesting that they're really the same product. With that said, I have found that some foods are generally better as the brand name, like Doritos and Cheetos. Occasionally I'll find an off brand that's not bad, but usually the flavor is off and the food will cause mild digestive distress. With non-food items, it's a mixed bag. Sometimes paying a little bit more for the brand name makes a huge difference in quality. This seems to be common with cleaning products. Oh, and clothing! I've got to stop buying clothes at Walmart, no matter how convenient it seems. The quality is almost always lacking, where garments wear out quickly or shirts shrink. Paying twice as much for better quality usually pays off in terms of much greater durability.

I've found, as far as quality, I just prefer to not go with the bottom barrel option, I don't necessarily need the best option. As for preference or taste, it totally depends.

I only look for specific brands if I've acquired and gotten satisfaction from that name brand before, or if someone I trust implicitly recommends the brand to me.

The North Face
LL Bean
Pensy’s

Good quality. Great warranty.

I buy good cheese, drinks, and cake. Lol. I buy a lot of things. Most are of medium to high quality. Why have to keep buying things, when you could pay a bit more for a great product? If it has a good warranty, I’ll want that product over others.

Sometimes name brand stuff is only worth the brand. For instance, Fred Meyer (department/grocery store) brand blank dvds are the same dvds that Sony puts their name on. Which one will I buy? The cheaper one.