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,

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

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.

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

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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 prefer generic items

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.

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.

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

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).

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?

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.