Is too much choice an issue and how do you decide what to buy?

Aggedor

I think you can never have too much choice of brands, consumers should be able to select from a selection of different brands in each product category, particularly consumer staples that people tend to buy frequently. I hate the way supermarket chains are imposing their own brands on consumers (not so much Aldi because most of its products are homebrands, but Coles and Woolies should not be allowed to be in a position where they basically say you can buy our homebrands so there!). Reducing the number of brandname products on supermarket shelves just boosts the profits of retailers and makes it harder for manufacturers of branded food products to compete (if they are not getting shelf-space in the supermarkets they are not getting sales, which puts both their business and the jobs of employees at risk).
I generally prefer to buy brandname grocery products, because it is supporting local jobs and helps ensure that the brand will continue to be around (hopefully).
If Coles/Woolies dropped one of my favourite brands I would probably shop somewhere else, even paying more to buy my favourite brand than buying a generic product. Having said that, the Coles/Woolies generic brands are generally much better quality now than in the past when they had a reputation for being cheap and nasty. But I still prefer name-brand products.