What makes a person always buy Chevy and never Ford? Or order Bud Light, but turn up his nose at Miller Lite? Drive a Peterbilt instead of a Kenworth?

Brand loyalty, where consumers become committed to brands and make repeat purchases from the same brands, is the Holy Grail of marketing. Brands do countless surveys, observe shoppers, analyze reams of data and spend fortunes on advertising, all in hopes of earning customers’ brand loyalty.

Maybe they’re overthinking things. We asked members of the RoadPro Pro Driver Council what brands need to do to earn their loyalty and they told us:

“Quality and service. A brand doesn't have to necessarily be the least expensive, but they need to have quality products at a fair price. 

And service after the sale. Nobody wants to have to return an item, but it happens. Ease of return or repair is important. Having to jump through hoops to resolve an issue is horrible. Too many times. I've just simply given up and decided to never buy that company’s products again.” – Thomas Miller

“I like things that just work. If a product has a function and, let’s face it, they all do, then I like it to work, work simply, and work every time. Make my life easy, not complicated. I like a company that stands behind their product, listens to their consumer base, and has friendly, responsive customer service.” – Sierra Sugar

As an example, she recently switched from Android to Apple products, partly because she was curious about Apple’s fanatical customer base. While she praised Apple’s customer service, she didn’t like the products.

“For everything that I could do on a PC or an Android device, I had to take 10 extra steps to do it on an Apple. No, thank you! That just makes my life a whole lot more complicated. Soon as I could, I went back to Android and bought a new PC laptop,” she said.

For fellow driver Maggie Riessen, it’s all about reliability. “If a product does what it supposed to do and lasts, that is what I am looking for. In a truck stop, I look for friendly staff, good food and parking, and, of course, good fuel with no water in it,” she said.

Quality is foremost for driver Ryan Sexton. “In order for a brand, or anything, to get my continued business they need to give a good quality product. For example, I've purchased Wrangler jeans for over five years because the product is comfortable and reasonably priced.”

Libby Clayton will be loyal to products that last. “It’s quality,” she said. “It should work the way it’s supposed to and have at least the expected lifespan before I have to replace it.”

There you have it, Madison Avenue: reliability, durability, functionality, customer service and price turn customers into brand loyalists.