第1583期:Are people loyal to brands?

You might have heard the term 'brand loyalty'. As we enter a 5th generation of console releases, with Sony's PS5 and Microsoft's Xbox series X due to hit our shelves this year, once more psychologists are predicting a wave of purchases based on fidelity.

您可能听说过“品牌忠诚度”一词。随着我们进入第五代游戏机版本，索尼的 PS5 和微软的 Xbox 系列 X 将于今年上架，心理学家再次预测基于保真度的购买浪潮。

But why do people feel compelled to stick with brands? Writer Carol M. Bopp describes brand loyalty as a positive feeling that consumers identify with a certain product or company.  This also draws on the idea of brand awareness: the extent to which customers are familiar with the logo or values of a brand, goods or a service.

但为什么人们会觉得有必要坚持品牌呢？作家 Carol M. Bopp 将品牌忠诚度描述为消费者认同某种产品或公司的积极感觉。这也借鉴了品牌知名度的概念：客户对品牌、商品或服务的标志或价值的熟悉程度。

Huge companies pump millions into marketing and advertising, using analytics to determine who is their ICP, or ideal customer profile. It’s no surprise that the ads which pop up on social media somehow feel targeted at or tailored for you. This is because companies spend a lot of time and money analysing who is most likely to become loyal customers.

大型公司将数百万美元投入营销和广告，使用分析来确定谁是他们的 ICP 或理想的客户档案。毫不奇怪，在社交媒体上弹出的广告以某种方式针对您或为您量身定制。这是因为公司花费大量时间和金钱来分析谁最有可能成为忠实客户。

This extends to the supermarkets. Many believe that the more expensive branded products are much better than the supermarkets’ own brand. Money-saving experts like Martin Lewis, encourage us to give up the premium or branded products and buy the value versions.

这延伸到超市。许多人认为，更昂贵的品牌产品比超市的自有品牌要好得多。像马丁刘易斯这样的省钱专家鼓励我们放弃高级或品牌产品并购买超值版本。

So, are we really brand loyal? Companies certainly want us to be. But there are those who believe it's more to do with brand habit – that feeling of comfort you get from buying the same product over and over again. Once we’re familiar with a brand and we know that it's OK, we don't feel compelled to try anything else.

那么，我们真的对品牌忠诚吗？公司当然希望我们成为。但是有些人认为这更多地与品牌习惯有关——你通过一遍又一遍地购买相同的产品而获得的舒适感。一旦我们熟悉了一个品牌并且我们知道它没问题，我们就不会觉得有必要尝试其他任何东西。

So, the next time you find yourself buying your favourite brand, it might not be down to brand loyalty, but rather to habit, or even that you have been targeted by a specific company through tailored ads.

因此，下次您发现自己购买自己喜欢的品牌时，可能不是品牌忠诚度，而是习惯，甚至是特定公司通过量身定制的广告锁定了您。

词汇表

brand loyalty 品牌忠诚度
hit the (our) shelves 摆上货架
fidelity 忠诚
brand awareness 品牌认知
logo 商标
values 价值观
goods 商品，货物
service 服务
advertising 广告
analytics （数据）分析方法
ICP (ideal customer profile) 理想客户特征
ad 广告
targeted 定向的，有目标的
tailored 特制的，定制的
own brand （商店的）自有品牌
premium 高级的，优质的
branded product 品牌产品
brand habit 品牌习惯