Generics -- hurray or no way?

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Recently I splurged -- hold me back! -- on name-brand Noxema. As I was scooping out a fingerful in the shower, I was inordinately thrilled with how smooth it was. The generic face goop I had been using prior to my splurge was nothing like this.

I will usually go for store brands (aka generics) over the brand-name items, but every once in a while, I run across something -- diet cola, mentholated face cleanser, chocolate chips -- that isn't quite up to the standards of, say, Diet Coke or Noxema or Guittard. I usually shrug, chalk it up to lessons learned and move on without permanent psychological damage.

Or do I? Miller-McCune recently ran an article, "Generic Products Lower Users' Self-Worth." A study in the Journal of Experimental Social Psychology found that people who were told they were using generic keyboards and mice "expected a lower monthly salary than did participants under the genuine-accessories condition." The researchers postulated that people use brand names to bolster their sense of self, so being deprived of those brands makes people feel a little shakier about their self-worth.

It's counterintuitive, as a lot of folks who buy generics may feel good about themselves, perceiving themselves as savvy shoppers and therefore smarter than the crowd. But I wonder if the college students tested were thinking back to their primary-school days, where kids who wore generic sneakers or didn't have the "it" snack of the moment (Hostess cupcakes, Frito chips) were somehow lower in the pecking order. There's a difference between being the consumer who chooses to buy generic versus having those generics foisted on you by a parent who could not care less if every other fourth grader is wearing name-brand whatevers. It all comes down to control. And that -- more than sporting a brand name -- may be what affects self esteeem.

Generics: empowering or triggering painful elementary-school memories? Speak up at dollarsandsense@sfgate.com.

Posted By: Lisa Schmeiser (Email) | January 12 2011 at 09:01 AM

Listed Under: Expert Opinion