Consumers, as a whole, are very uneducated

Sony trounces Microsoft and Nintendo in brand trust survey
>> From joystiq.com:

Quote:

Forrester Research has published a new report that examines the trust that American households place in PC and consumer electronics (CE) brands, including the brands of Microsoft, Nintendo and Sony. The results may be surprising to gamers.

In Forrester's analysis, Sony's brand garnered the highest marks of the three companies (Sony also ranked 3rd out of 22 companies), earning an average of A plus. Of the companies surveyed, only Bose and Dell sport an A plus. Meanwhile, Microsoft's brand earned an overall grade of C (placing Microsoft at 20 out of 22), dragged down by low brand trust. Nintendo's brand earned a B, but was pulled towards the bottom of the ranking (17th place out of 22) by low brand potential and low brand adoption.
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A few revealing quotes from the study:
* "Microsoft faces big consumer defection risk. One measure of consumers' dissatisfaction with Microsoft is seen in the 5.4 million households that give it a brand trust score of 1 [distrust a lot] or 2 [distrust a bit]. Compared with all Microsoft users, these at-risk users have higher income, are much more likely to be male, and are bigger online spenders.(see endnote 7) These households know they run Microsoft software but would be just as happy to leave it behind -- if they could."
* "Sony's current customers are affluent, young, and more likely than the general population to stick with a brand they like. Sony's prospects have a different profile: poorer than the general population, less brand loyal, and more likely to buy on price. To reach these 9.8 million households, Sony will have to tailor its marketing messages and retail presence to compete on price."

How sad is it that even Bose made it to the top of this consumer survey. It is clear that brand loyalty is a much larger factor in selecting products than it should be. Sony's recent products lead the industry in defects and poor quality, yet human beings still rate them high. And Bose is 100% pure gimmick, even more than Nintendo's 85%, yet people are willing to pay quadruple the price of products seven times better.

I've had zero Nintendo products break, compared to twenty Sony products, and zero Microsoft products (aside from buggy software lolol).

HOW WOULD YOU RATE YOUR SATISFACTION IN THESE COMPANIES?

Jam it back in, in the dark.

Could this be related to the fact that some top-known goods aren't advertised as much? I could be wrong but I'd like to just clarify if that can be a contributing factor.

There's nowhere I can't reach.

Quote:

How sad is it that even Bose made it to the top of this consumer survey

Tell me what's wrong with Bose. ;___; I kept hearing their audio products are top of the line (with a top of the line price, of course).

This thing is sticky, and I don't like it. I don't appreciate it.

http://www.retailworker.com/node/10435

It's good to be in-the-know.

I am a dolphin, do you want me on your body?

If people here who tried it hadn't set me straight, I'd probably too think a company like Bose is worthy of a good grade based on the fact that they made good stuff 10 years ago and that I'd never be able to try them because I'm poor as shit.

As for Microsoft, that's just what people hear. People who have broken MS products (read Windows or Office, most likely) are more likely to be the people who don't know what the hell they are doing.

I was speaking idiomatically.

Okay, so what other brand speakers do you recommend? My dad bought some ENERGY bookshelf speakers a few years back and they seem okay.
Yamaha okay? ;___;

(psssst...please post links to more credible reviews for other speakers, so I can be-in-the-know too )

How ya doing, buddy?

Well I bought a Sony CDRW once- it was shit- couldn't get my money back and declared to myself that they [Sony] would never get any more of my money, cept with the Playstation. (DVDs, CDs, and games not included in that declaration)

I think if asked over at the AVS forums you could get a good picture of Bose- I haven't heard any of their products but I am suspicious of any company that only lists how much you need to pay per month without the number of months listed.

I agree with Nintendo products lasting, except for my NES.
Microsoft; Windows, happy; Xbox, happy; Xbox 360, happy; Microsoft makes me happy.

I think people are just lazy, and go for what the rest of masses go for- every time they talk about an mp3 player its always the iPod.

I think this mostly ramblings.

FELIPE NO

Oh, so you would like to discuss speakers. Here like what.

First, how much are you willing to $$$.

What, you don't want my bikini-clad body?

I've known Sony products were really iffy since the horror stories about the PSX having problems. Fact is, you buy a Sony system with the understanding that you're lucky if it makes it to the next generation.

Heh, and I remember when they were pushing Awia really hard. Nothing but Sony's untested prototypes.

But, yeah, in general people are idiots. On the flipside, you have to watch out for becoming too "in the know," because you usually end up just as ignorant only with the nasty habit of talking like you know everything.

Jam it back in, in the dark.

Originally Posted by Spatula

Tell me what's wrong with Bose. ;___; I kept hearing their audio products are top of the line (with a top of the line price, of course).

Bose stuff honestly isn't that sonically terrible, but it's so overpriced. For example, the Quiet Comfort headphones cost $300 list, but they have the sound quality of an average $50 pair of closed Sennheisers and the build quality of any random $20 thing from Best Buy. The various Wave Radios are pretty good for being so small, but a Henry Kloss Model One will beat one quite well in sound quality at a much lower price. Their speaker systems really aren't that much better than the higher-end HTIB systems, but they cost more and aren't nearly as flexible as a proper receiver.

Oh, and if you want real speakers at a sub-Bose price point, buy a pair of Magnepan MMGs and some decent floorstanding rear speakers. They even have some style! ^^

Henry Kloss was a bloody genius, by the way. I have a pair of his original Advent speakers, and they sound great compared to...well, any cheaper speaker system out there right now.

There's nowhere I can't reach.

AH! I do have a pair of Sennheisers for gaming, so much better than the TV speakers. Bose is definately over priced and I mean, I have heard demonstrations and they sound nice, but unless I win the lottery, they don't have my business.

This thing is sticky, and I don't like it. I don't appreciate it.

Originally Posted by Spatula

AH! I do have a pair of Sennheisers for gaming, so much better than the TV speakers. Bose is definately over priced and I mean, I have heard demonstrations and they sound nice, but unless I win the lottery, they don't have my business.

I also have a Sennheisers as earphones too. Fucking excellent quality.

I am a dolphin, do you want me on your body?

In fucking deed. I think I won't have to spend $$$ for surround sound anymore.



Okay fine, actual surround sound with multiple speakers is nice, but not when I have to get my new TV first.

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Oh get over yourself, seriously. Obviously the real answer here is people aren't stupid, rather they haven't had the poor experiences with Sony like you have.

Personally I've had moderately good experience with Sony products (I'd still rank them the #1 TV manufactures this generation but my first PS2 did suffer from CD read errors) and very good experience with Dells (both my laptop and FPW2405 are excellent pieces of hardware). Bose offers some very high quality products especially related to car audio, but in my opinion are very overpriced. As for Microsoft, I went though 2 MS optical mice in 2 months as well as had my hard drive in my XBox fail on me.

I guess we all have different experiences don't we? But the nice thing (as well as the purpose) of a survey is that it cuts though personal experience and gives a larger universal experience. Oh but of course when the universal experience conflicts with your own, it's obvious that everyone else is in the wrong.

What kind of toxic man-thing is happening now?

Sennheisers are decent headphones, but my Audio-Technica ATH A-900's own any headphones for movies and games any day.

And you get Grados for music.

I'll be honest, I don't know much about high-end speakers, because I currently lack the room and the budget for them, so no comment there, but there are many, many brands that produce superior headphones for much less money.

FELIPE NO

Bose has, if nothing else, one thing going for it -- not brand loyalty, but brand recognition. Recognition is by and far the most powerful tool for retail.

Unlike TubeRacer, I've had only one Sony product go defective -- a car CD player. It wasn't until I actually started selling car stereo from a specialty shop that I realized the poor quality of Son'y car audio equipment. However, I've never had a problem with any of their other products -- home theatre received and speakers have been running great for 4 years now and never had a problem with the received. The DVD player hasn't given me any trouble over the same 4 year period, and doesn't show any hints to slowing down. Never had a Sony TV or a Sony computer, but I do plan to own one of each.

Sadly, negative press always garners more attention than positive press. One person says "Fuck Bose. Fuck fuck fuck." and 45 people read it. 10 people say "Hey, Bose isn't bad." and no one gives a shit because that's what they expect to hear. That's a basic rule-of-thumb in public relations and in advertising.

I'll agree that the people who complain about Microsoft products are either a.) born and raised in Macland or b.) dumb as a brick. As far as software is concerned anyway. I still don't trust the Xbox, and the 360 makes me cringe. I've seen more photos of people hanging those huge power bricks from the ceiling just so it doesn't touch anything and to keep air circulating around it. See, the negative press thing works.

Nintendo stuff on the other hand....double-edged sword from my experience. I've purchased as many SNES's as I have PS2s. The Nintendo 64 is another matter, but then again I hardly used it. Not to mention I didn't play it for the same length of time as I did the PSone. Now the regular Nintendo...I hardly ever got mad at the game. I got more mad at the goddamn system for giving me that jumbled screen instead of letting me play the cartridge. The NES was, literally, a waste of breath for me. If only canned air were around and in abundance back then as it is now.

On the topic of just straight-up trust in an electronics company, I give my whole trust to only oen company -- Pioneer. I've got a lot of faith in them, as I've never had a defective product from them over numerous CD players (purchased by choice, not force), speakers, wires, etc. The only bad thing is that the upper portion of Pioneer products is their price matches their quality -- high. But once I make a decent income, I'll start making the choice between a full Sony setup or a Pioneer one, regarding my home theater.

What, you don't want my bikini-clad body?

"Consumers, as a whole, are very uneducated."

I want to say, people, as a whole, are stupid. Oh crap, *hands up*.

Product loyalty is crucial. As said, because of that, people are just stupid about that. I choose a product after doing research on it, and after that I typically become loyal to the company, even if future products may be inferior to other products (but still very good quality).

A couple personal examples: I've been loyal to the NBA live/showdownn series since the early 1990s. The last 2 editions of the game have been very disappointing, but even so I continued to get them. This year, now, my loyalty is definitely migrating, most likely towards the 2K6 series, but this remains to be seen.

My first 5.1 set of speakers were the Logitech ones about 4 years ago. I've remained loyal to them even to today., despite other offerings. In fact, I haven't done research on speakers since then. I just blindly purchase the newest 5.1 set of Logitech speakers. This may have to change in the future.

I like Gatorade. But Powerade's on sale. *buys Powerade* Not much loyalty here.

I used to whore any [RPG] game released by Squaresoft/Square Enix. Not so much anymore. I learned (really thanks to Gamingforce) there exist other RPGs, many infinitely better.

Headphones/earphones: <3 Ultimate Ears and Sennheiser. It's pretty much all loyalty here now. Fuck the specs.

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Generally, I buy on PRICE. If Product A is like Product B, but Product A is cheaper, I buy A, unless I know that B is SUPERIOR.

Oh and as for Headphones: Sennheiser FTW.

There's nowhere I can't reach.

I've been saying this for a long time, both in the brand names people gravitate towards, and people's preference in the games they play on those consoles. People honest to God don't care about quality, as long as the name is somehow appealing. American cars are shit, yet look at how many Ford and GM SUVs you see tooling around on the road.

How ya doing, buddy?

Again though I want to point out it's not so much brand loyalty as it is brand recognition. Recognition plays the largest role -- think about how many Ford/Chevy commercials you see on TV as opposed to Mitsubishi/Honda.

That's got nothing to do with loyalty.

I am a dolphin, do you want me on your body?

Would versatility of the products have a factor in this as well, at least in the gaming aspect? For example, Nintendo is for the most part all about the games. On the other hand, Sony manufactures plenty of other electronics besides the PS2, and Microsoft has Windows and all of that along with the XBox 360. But wasn't a lot of what won people the fact that the PS2 or XBox could do more than just gaming? Surely there were many people who didn't own a DVD player of any sort until they got a PS2 or XBox, and then they didn't get any other gaming console on the basis that they had one already?

I don't deny that brand loyalty or recognition has a hand in it all, but I wager a lot of consumers bought a PS2/Xbox for a gaming console simply because they can play DVDs too, and maybe they didn't have a DVD player at the time. Sort of kill two birds with one stone, you know?

I was speaking idiomatically.

Originally Posted by Josiah

Nintendo is for the most part all about the games. On the other hand, Sony manufactures plenty of other electronics besides the PS2, and Microsoft has Windows and all of that along with the XBox 360

yeah. doesnt seem to apply to gaming much at all. I still find it surprising Microsoft rated so lowly.

"Microsoft faces big consumer defection risk"
not really. I don't see the average Joe abandoning Windows anytime soon.

Originally Posted by Chronciler

I've known Sony products were really iffy since the horror stories about the PSX having problems. Fact is, you buy a Sony system with the understanding that you're lucky if it makes it to the next generation.

WTF are you talking about.

How ya doing, buddy?

This is a good discussion.

There's nothing wrong with loyalty if the company earns it. A good example would be Apple, or National Geographic, which despite their loyalty, actually produce quality products (say what you want about Macs, but that's the reason people claim to buy them). The prices are a different story, though.

The reason companies like Bose have such a loyal fanbase is because their prices are so high that only a few uneducated people can buy them, like someone mentioned above. Therefore, everyone else has no choice but to buy from Sony, Microsoft, Walgreens, or whatever the hell other brand names there are, and there's this false sense of loyalty that people achieve. Add that together with sucky brand images and you've got a problem that you'll never get rid of as long as we have big business in this country.

Although, the companies with truly good products are the real crooks, because they charge high prices that they know the honest man cannot afford. Look at the computer software industry, particularly music programs.

FELIPE NO

Originally Posted by TubeRacer

HOW WOULD YOU RATE YOUR SATISFACTION IN THESE COMPANIES?

Here's my list, with a few others in the electronics & computer area -

Compaq - 80%
Dell - 95%
Microsoft - 95%
Nintendo - 95%
Toshiba - 0%
Sony - 15%

Microsoft and Nintendo both make excellent products. I swear by Windows and am a happy user of their Visual Studio software, and Nintendo makes the best games and consoles out there.
I'm also very happy with Dell. My newest computer is from them and it's six months old, giving officially six times the life span of my Toshiba laptop and making it so far half as long lived as my old Compaq laptop (anyone wanna guess why this one's a deskopt? XD). And for $700 it's pretty dang powerful... I couldn't touch something like this from most other makers for less than a hundred dollars more, make it three if you count the printer and flat screen monitor I got for free.
Compaq is okay. My old Compaq laptop has certainly lasted a good deal longer than the laptop before it, and is less problematic considering it does more than spark and hiss when you turn it on xp It's in poor shape now, but it still turns on so when I'm on the go I still have somewhat of a laptop to take with me, even if it's not nearly as good as it was brand new.
Toshiba, on the other hand, they make crap. Literally. They've probably got a crap factory in Iowa pumping out crap to ship out to the rest of the country for farms for manure. My old laptop from them, it lasted a month, died, I got it repaired, it lasted another few months, died, I got a new comp and since then have referred to Toshiba as Toshitba. I will never buy a single thing from them ever again, even if the next cheapest alternative is ten times the price.

What, you don't want my bikini-clad body?

Originally Posted by SouthJag

Again though I want to point out it's not so much brand loyalty as it is brand recognition. Recognition plays the largest role -- think about how many Ford/Chevy commercials you see on TV as opposed to Mitsubishi/Honda.

That's got nothing to do with loyalty.

Actually, on the case of American cars, I would argue loyalty is more the motivating factor. If you live in the US and drive around long enough, you're going to see a number of people driving Chevies with decals about how horrible Ford is. Likewise, you'll see plenty of people driving Fords with decals denegrating Chevy. Not so much toward any foreign cars though.

It's interesting. You don't see this kind of aggressive hostility manifest itself toward other manufacturers like you do Ford/Chevy. Ironically, both make horrible cars that die too young. Chevy nickles and dimes you with small problems, Ford up and blows an engine or transmission suddenly. It's all a matter of preference.

Jam it back in, in the dark.