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vunderbayesterday at 3:57 PM2 repliesview on HN

> It’s a foreign concept for many of us who seek out the best product or deals for each purchase and will change brands in an instant if another company releases a better product.

For those of us who grew up in the era of the "Are you a Mac or a PC" [1], many Americans are intimately familiar with the concept of brand identity.

[1] - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Get_a_Mac


Replies

wavemodetoday at 7:25 AM

Mac, yes. But I feel like being a "PC user" was never a coherent social identity. People use PCs for various reasons, usually pragmatic.

(Reflecting on it, I don't think I ever knew anyone who was "loyal" to Microsoft, or, dare I say, even particularly liked them as a company. At least certainly not the way people like Apple.)

In that sense, I feel as though Apple is the exception that proves the rule. There are really (almost) no other brands in Americans' everyday lives that elicit such a strong brand identity.

TulliusCicerotoday at 1:00 AM

There are certain cases where brand attachment is stronger, but overall brand attachment in the US is pretty weak.