Brand choices can cause conflict for couples

We know that an everyday choice, such as buying a certain type of toothpaste, isn’t necessarily a deal breaker, but when you’re in a relationship, it can be a source of contention.

According to a recent Duke University study, preferring different brands from each other can affect happiness in a relationship more than shared interests or personality traits.

Published in the Journal of Consumer Research, “Coke vs. Pepsi: Brand Compatibility, Relationship Power, and Life Satisfaction” researchers used brand preferences in coffee, chocolate, beer, soda and cars to look at individuals and couples (some of whom were tracked over two years) and combined their findings on relationship power (who has more sway in the relationship) and happiness. The result: Partners who had lower power in their relationships (those who don’t feel they can shape their partner’s behavior) tend to find themselves stuck with their partner’s preferred brands.

“This could lead to a deathby-a-thousand-cuts feeling,” said the study’s lead author, Danielle Brick. “Most couples won’t break up over brand incompatibility, but it leads to the low-power partner becoming less and less happy.”

“We often think that it’s only the ‘big’ things that matter,” said Dr. Christine Whelan, director of the Money, Relationships and Equality initiative and clinical professor at the University of Wis- consin–Madison’s Department of Consumer Science. “This study highlights that our consumer behavior is a daily affirmation of our per- sonal preferences, and we’d do well to take those ‘little’ things seriously.”