Do you actually have some evidence to back that statement up?

Personally, I know quite a few wealthy people who stick to purchasing the same brands, TV's, Car's, Even flying with the same airlines.

While at the other end of the spectrum, I also know a few not-so-wealthy people who couldn't care less what products they purchase as long as they work.

"who need things to cost less?"- Perhaps you're mistaking strong sales at a low pricepoint for 'brand loyalty'?

My personal experiences completly contradict your statement, so I'd be interested to see if there are some reports, proof about this matter.

Ah your talking about rich vs poor... I got it now.

I'm talking Middle class vs Poor. The extreme rich aren't as high in number so really don't matter as much in this case. A lot of them likely would of got PS3's already.

One of the main reasons of brand loyalty is lack of time to research said things. Those that are very wealthy, like those who are poor have less time to research.

What?? Are you saying then that if consumers researched products, the said consumers would never become brand loyal? The main reason for brand loyalty is not because people have "a lack of time to research things". A 'lack of time' is not even an issue.

Brand loyalty exists for a variety of reasons. In order to become hard core loyals, consumers must feel that a brand is offering them the right features, the right price, and the right level of quality.

Consumers make a concious decision to focus their purchases on a particular brand because they percieve that brand to be superior to others. This is done through advertising, the company sucessfully achieving the company-consumer bond etc.

If a consumer doesn't pay attention to other brands, and has simply slipped into a habit of purchasing the same brand again and again and cannot be bothered to switch, the consumer cannot be said to be brand loyal at all.

Also, the Airlines and Cars thing isn't brand loyalty.

It's Deal loyalty and Brand Value.

I understand the definition of brand loyalty. In the situation I'm talking about there are no deals with the airline. It's simply a case where the consumer feels that the service/product is superior to others, and continualy purchases the product, and is willing to pay a higher price becuase of it. Brand value? If a consumer repeatadly purchases a brand because of the 'image' it gives them, this is considered brand loyalty.

You go on the same Airline because repeated visits give you extra perks. You get an expensive car because it's an expensive car with a fancy name attached to it.

A fancy brand name? If a consumer repeatadly purchases the same brand of cars, because they believe the cars to be superior to others, (because of image/attention etc.) they are said to be brand loyal.

Still the money lost is an important factor as well. Which will still likely make it more prominant among those who can't afford to lose the money.

Those who don't have time to do research, and who are also spending a large portion of their income on said products are most brand loyal is the point i'm making.  Though people who just don't have the time to do research will also be fairly brand loyal.

Arguably yes, poor consumers are the most 'loyal' of hard core loyals.

If they're brand loyal despite having lots of time on their hands... then they're just lazy.

You seem to have made the assumption that brand loyalty is blind loyalty. And that the very wealthy and the poor are guilty of it becuase they don't have the time/research to find out about different products.

This is simply not true.

However of course it has to cross their price threshold first. Hence why you need to have a price near to your competitors to cash in on said brand loyalty. The middle class are the most likely to do things like read up about said consoles, look up games about them, talk to people about them and just make a decision based on which they actually think they'll like best on a well rounded informed decision.

You seem to be trying to express this notion that brand loyalty is biased and narrow-minded, and that because the middle class are well informed they will be least likely to participate in it.

Brand loyalty is not entirely blind or narrow-minded. It's built from human desires, satisfaction and personal preference. It can take a long time to build, or it can take a matter of days. The company essentially builds a relationship with the consumer, through appealing advertising, appealing products and appealing pricing. A basic human response to something they like is to try it again.

Humans build loyalty to many things, other humans, favourite places, their home town, a football team etc. Brand loyalty is essentially human nature.

If Consumers have the time to research things, brand loyalty's effect is GREATLY reduced because people know what products actually fit their needs instead of what they perceive best fit their needs.

I've already dicussed this to a great extent in my last reply but you still don't seem to have taken the point. There is almost a "processing stage" a consumer goes through in order to become brand loyal.

                                    Brand recognition > Brand Preference > Brand Loyalty

Basically a consumer is brand loyal directly BECAUSE the brand suits their needs/tastes so well.

Uninformed consumers making uninformed decisions does not make them brand loyal. They are simply purchasing a product without prior information. They are not purchasing it over another product becuase of their loyalty to the brand.

People become brand loyal through their own personal research, experience and emotional exposure with the brand. Their overall satisfaction with the company, customer care, the price, the features etc.

Your using product choice as an arguement for brand loyalty which is a backwords approach. For example, few people would be interested in a economic car made by a brand known for high quality products. Only the most hardcore brand loyalists are going to forgo all other information to pick up this new car.

Strong brand loyalty... like the kind the article is talking about IS more or less a blind loyalty. Brand Loyalty is when you buy only said product, and it is MOST prevelant among those that have less time to do research. Or you do research but mostly biased research, for example if you do all your research and playstation sites. This is also the brand loyalty you were talking about. People who only buy one brand of product.

Again, why? you still haven't offered any concrete evidence for this.

If you don't have strong brand loyalty then the featuers of the products are going to matter between at least two or three different companies. Which... there are only 2 or 3 companies in the console buisness.

If you need any proof. Look at the N64.

You seem to be mistaking the strength of brand loyalty. Not all past consumers are going to be brand loyal.

The N64 probably still sold to thousands, if not hundreds of thousands of hard core Nintendo loyals.

That doesn't mean it was enough to stop the PS1's success as a tide of switchers, shifting loyals, and new consumers moved to the new PS system.

Or your own article, for that matter. Which doesn't say brand loyalty is important. It just says having a brand is imortant. Which once again is a non factor since these are all household companies. There isn't a "Savelot brand" console.

Having a strong brand is very important. As is brand loyalty. Especially amongst the home consoles. Companies make their most profits off the hard core loyals of their brand, and their brand advertising is usually directed at this crowd.

People are likely going to trust something they've heard of before vs something they haven't or that just came from the supermarket and they don't know anything about.

Lesser brand loyalty. Or Brand equity as it were is just a minor part of the equation. In some cases it can be negative if the product your selling is different from the other products you sell.  Which is somewhat the case when it comes to the PS3 vs the rest of the playstation brand.

One of the chief boons for the PS3 is having a hard core loyal crowd. Also I would say that the PSP and PS3 are in the same boat, both being cutting edge in terms of technology, both are perhaps quite similar to the rest of Sony (the message and image of the brand), if not the past PS brand.

"You learn that creating customer loyalty is neither strategic nor tactic; rather, it is the ultimate objective and meaning of brand equity. Brand loyalty is brand equity.” Daryl Travis