As a rule, name brand products cost more than similar items that ship without fancy labels. Sometimes that might be due to higher quality manufacturing processes and better design. But it could also be due to baseless marketing claims. In some cases, the two products could be identical except for the label.
How are we supposed to know when the no-brand product is a great deal and when we're far better off avoiding it? Often we can't. But, because we've got great faith in the wisdom of the crowd, we're asking you to share your experience. If enough of you contribute enough helpful information, we might be able to build a valuable consumer resource.
How do you measure product value? Well, when it comes to consumables such as food or wine, it often comes down to features like taste - which are subjective and hard to quantify. So we'll concentrate on durability and ask the question: is there a consistent connection between price and the length of time your purchase continues to serve you?
We should start with a definition. Sometimes figuring out what's "name brand" and what's "no-name" can be complicated. Is Polaroid - which went bankrupt in 2001 and again in 2008 - still a "brand"? It's true that there's still imaging equipment being sold under the Polaroid name, but I'm not sure that they're the product of the kind of research and innovation that can be unique to large corporations. So we can ask you no more than that you do your best as you work through the survey.
In any case, now it's your turn. You should rate only a single product per survey. But feel free to take the survey multiple times if you've had experience with more than one relevant product.
This survey should take you less than five minutes to complete.
There are 11 questions in this survey.
