Brands have taught us that more expensive is better. And the truth is, for the majority of household items and foods, this is just not true. Yes, there are some brands that make better products than others, but you will always find a cheaper alternative which has the same quality if you look. With regard to supermarkets, stores like Aldi and Lidl have built their reputations on proving to customers that brand labels are not any better than the cheaper options.
Be aware of the language, phrasing and offers that supermarkets and brands use too. They are using specific language in clever ways that almost conditions us into believing the messages and falling for the hype. Here is one simple example, Luxury Soap, Brand Soap, and Basic Soap. Which one of these options would you normally be attracted to if you need to buy one bar of soap?
Basic soap costs 20p,
Brand Soap costs £1 for 4 bars
Luxury Soaps are 75P and you can buy two and get one for free.
It’s obvious which the cheaper option is, and the second option appears to provide the best value for money. But here is the catch. One bar of soap, for an average family, will last between two to three weeks, and one bar is all you needed – a budget of 20p. If you picked one of the other two options, then the supermarket managed to get a pound out of your purse when you only planned to spend 20p. And that is how clever marketing and the use of promotional language and selling tactics is able to get more money out of us every time we shop. If we are on a tight budget tactics like this can make a huge difference to how much we have to spend on other essentials.
Watch out for phrases like Premium, Finest, Extra Special, famous brands rely on product recognition. Own brand products are not of a lower quality, there are laws against shops selling us substandard food! They are cheaper because there are no costs involved in producing expensive packaging.
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