[Timgt5]

A friend and I were having a discussion recently regarding this subject. It seems from reading a lot of posts in the forums here at Edmonds and other places, there are a small contingent of folks that have an almost mindless loyalty to a paticular brand or model.

I have never understood this phenomenon. I guess in the case of very specialized products that are truly unique in character, such as a Porche or Ferrai I could understand if a bit. Those are the kind of cars that have what could be called "personalities" . On the other hand 25 other cars will do what a Toyota Camry does and in a lot of aspects better. Yet there are people who have bought these cars that will look at nothing else. Same could be said for Buicks, Chevys and Hondas for that matter.

I have read somewhere in Pyschology literature that there are two types of customers in the market place "Maximizers" and "Satisfiers" "Satisfiers" find something they like and stick with it, and does not seem to matter to them whether they bought the best product or not. " Maximizers" on the other hand demand the very best for their dollar. The difference, Maximizers are the ones, pour over Car and Driver, CR and Road and Track and of course, this site to gather date, and make comparisions. They take 30 minute to 1 hour test drives of multiple models, and may take second test drives. Studies show that the Satisfiers, however are the least crtitical of their purchases after the fact and are more likely to answer positively to questions from the likes for Consumer Reports and JD Power.

I for one find it strange that an average middle class person can drop 20-25 large on a car because "everyone else in the family drives one" I could not sleep at night not knowing for sure I did not test enough cars to be sure I bought the best in the class.

I would love to know the other side of the story and the rational for buying a car without doing any real research or comparisons.

Any thoughts out there?