The disdain and idolization of lesser brands

[Dragonzeanse]

So here's some food for thought. Have you ever seen someone say that "x is overrated"? In this context, let's say "Asus is overrated." Then you might even get an opportunity to see that person recommend a brand that fewer people use. It doesn't matter if he owns it or not, what matters is that he is suggesting it. It reflects a sort of favoritism for the "underdog" simply because they are. On the flip side, you see smaller brands like, hell, let's say ADATA. Since they don't have the wide reputation that people so often attribute to Corsair, someone might instinctively suggest they're a "small company" or say that their products aren't high-quality. Hell, they might just gravitate away from it. Similarly, you might see a little-known company that makes coolers for a graphics card, which a lot of people seem to hate without giving their rationale - or perhaps instead, rationalizing that because they saw one person on Tom's Hardware complain about it, they all suck.

 

Even as I type this, my lizard brain is telling me that Club3D, PNY, Zotac, and so on are awful brands when associated with video cards, or more specifically, the coolers on them. EVGA and Asus have - in my mind - won their reputation through their customer service and superb products (your mileage may vary). They aren't engraved as some sort of superbrand for the sake of having one. I look at each product from each company whether it be Corsair or it be a brand of anything similarly related more unknown to the general user, and I try to be holistic. A history of quality products is no guarantee of future quality products; one example being the Kingston SSDNow V300, which now uses different flash.

 

My question is something that could be approached from multiple angles, I feel. What is it about these lesser brands that trigger the hipster in us - or on the other hand, turns us against it - that makes us at all concerned with these companies? I'm hoping people might be able to rationalize this with more than just a single sentence like "haters gon hate" or whatever reiterated argument you've made in the past. Do smaller companies deserve their flak, perhaps until they earn a better reputation or actually surpass another company in profits? Where might this scrutiny be necessary? Is it unfair? Discuss.

[TriBeard]

I think part of it is people wanting to believe in the little guy, and help him out instead of throwing more money at the "giant corporation". I think with smaller companies, or existing companies that branch out it to new areas even, you have a chance to get really good components/products for a great price and have great customer service to go with it. You also have the chance of getting broken piles of shit that never work if you don't do your research before hand. 

 

I think everyone sort of wants to be the first one to find the next big thing/brand. 

[ShadowCaptain]

I think you generally find that the big popular brands all started out the same way, as small independent brands and became big due to them being noticed.

 

I think companies like Asus in your example are popular and highly "trusted" because they have proven their build quality, reliability, and customer service over the years with all of the products they have released, and how they communicate with the community they cater for.

 

Just because a brand is small doens't necessarily mean it has low build quality, but it doens't necessarily mean they are bespoke either, just that they have not built up the trust of their customers as much as other brands.

 

Like would you trust a BMW to drive your family around in, or a car built by that bloke round the corner that only has a few customers.Clearly he has a loyal hardcore audience, but not enough widespread trust.

 

I think people inherently trust brands they have heard lots about over smaller less known brands. - unless the smaller brand is doing something custom and bespoke, in which case the consensus is that since they don't have to please the masses they can design the product in a way they see fit to meet the demands of the few customers that want it