Coke or Pepsi? How brands can impact a relationship

Preferences for certain brands could be making your partner unhappy, suggests new research published in the Journal of Consumer Research.

Gavan Fitzsimons, a marketing professor at Duke University’s Fuqua School of Business, worked alongside lead author Danielle Brick, Tanya Chartrand and Grainne Fitzsimons on a study called ‘Coke vs. Pepsi: Brand Compatibility, Relationship Power, and Life Satisfaction’.

After monitoring some couples for up to two years, the study found that being dominated by your partner when it comes to consumer choices may lead to resentment, and this can impact the relationship more than shared interests or personality traits.

“People think compatibility in relationships comes from having similar backgrounds, religion or education.

“But we find those things don’t explain how happy you are in life nearly as much as this notion of brand compatibility.”

Brand preferences impact the day-to-day lives of consumers, and a continuous feeling of having no power to influence these choices can cause problems.

“This could lead to a death-by-a-thousand-cuts feeling,” Brick said.

Other studies testing brand preferences for soda, coffee, chocolate, beer and automobiles also produced similar outcomes. These results were combined with findings on relationship power and happiness, and researchers found these preferences had a “robust” effect on relationships.

“If you are a different religion than your romantic partner, you know that if this is an issue you can’t work through, then the relationship isn’t going to last,” Brick explained.

“Conversely, if you like Coke and your partner likes Pepsi, you’re probably not going to break up over it — but 11 years into a relationship, when he or she keeps coming home with Pepsi, day in and day out, it might start to cause a little conflict. And if you're the low-power person in the relationship, who continually loses out on brands and is stuck with your partner’s preferences, you are going to be less happy.”

Although it is unlikely to lead to a couple breaking up, Fitzsimons suggests that declaring these preferences on dating profiles could help relationship compatibility and avoid problems occurring in the future.

Another solution is to compromise and mutually agree on a different brand that satisfies the family. Marketers should aim to be the family brand that can even the power dynamics of the relationship and therefore increase happiness levels in both partners.

“Some brands are marketed as family oriented, but that’s not the same as reaching out to everyone in the family,” Fitzsimons said. “It’s tricky, but firms that get it right can have their brand associated with happiness and harmony — and there’s nothing better than that.”