How brand loyal are you?

Brand names are drilled into our heads from the time we're born. They are in commercials, on billboards, even on t-shirts.

"Advertisers want to hook people young because they want that brand loyalty that comes with a young consumer. They want to find someone today that's still going to love their product tomorrow," said Lacey Rose of Forbes.com

A Consumer Reports ShopSmart survey reveals that strategy appears to be working pretty well.

"For women who often buy the same brand of groceries, 48 per cent say it's the same brand they grew up with," explained ShopSmart's Lisa Lee Freeman

But that may be changing:

29 per cent of women surveyed said they're buying more generic brands these days.

"Kirkland is one of my favorites I think if they are good quality and Shoppers Drug Mart has a good brand," agreed one downtown shopper.

But the question of whether women can be persuaded to make the switch from a generic brand to a store brand and vice verser, appears to depend on the product.

Sixty-eight percent say they would go for over-the-counter medications

"We test a lot of store brands and over the years we've found that they can be almost as good as or even better in some cases than brand-name products. And they can save you a lot of money," said Freeman.

For instance, Great Value laundry detergent from Wal-Mart did a bit better in Consumer Reports' tests than Tide with a touch of Downy. And store-brand dishwasher detergents did as well cleaning dishes as brand-name detergents, and they cost a lot less.

However, ShopSmart says there's one area where women are particularly reluctant to switch from well-known brands.

"Surprisingly, 71 per cent said they wouldn't buy anything other than their favorite brand of pet food," noted Freeman.

"As long as he's happy I stick with it," explained one pet owner.

With pets that's really all the matters.

Other products where women are less willing to switch from well-known brands: cosmetics and personal care items. That is another area where companies spend more than $6 billion dollars a year on advertising to get you to buy their products.

With a report by CTV British Columbia's Chris Olsen.