Consumer - Brand Relationships

After having read Susan Fournier's article, "Consumers and Their Brands: Developing Relationship Theory in Consumer Research" I found that I have since been making consumption decisions with the various relationships outlined in the text in mind. For example, when I returned home from spring break I was out of almost everything; groceries, shampoo, paper towels, and laundry detergent. So naturally, I waited till Sunday night to finally drag myself to the grocery store to spend a substantial amount of money (On a college student's budget) for the things I would  need to get me by.

To preface this paragraph I should say that I love the smell of clean laundry and it is actually true that we do all turn out like our mothers. With that said, I have a lasting kinship relationship with Gain laundry detergent. Fournier's article defines a kinship as a non voluntary union with lineage ties. I have always bought Gain for the sole purpose that it was always the brand my mom bought when I was growing up, little did I know that I would develop the same brand preference. A few months ago I was at Costco and was tempted by that gigantic size Kirkland laundry detergent. It was much cheaper and it came in individual packs. I figured it would help me monitor how much detergent I was using per load. After bringing home my economy size Kirkland detergent, I set out to do a load of laundry. After drying that load, I was so disappointed by the outcome of my clothes. Not only did they smell wrong, and by wrong I mean not like Gain, they were also covered in an odd residue... Because I had this experience with Kirkland laundry detergent, I am now hesitant to buy other Kirkland products.

So, on Sunday night when I cruised around Smith's looking for what I'd need, I came to the cleaning products isle and bought yet another gallon of Gain laundry detergent. I suppose using gain gives me this feeling: