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| Stephen L. Carter, a Bloomberg View columnist, is a professor of law at Yale University. |
Have the questions swirling around the finances of the Clinton Foundation damaged Hillary Clinton’s brand? Many observers seem to think so. That word -- “brand” -- keeps popping up. Yet polls showthat voters continue to lean her way. When pundits express surprise at Clinton’s staying power, they are misunderstanding how brands work. Once we see what it actually means to have a brand, we will see why a rational Clinton supporter would be reluctant to switch.
To start with, why do brands matter? Consider a consumer who goes into the pharmacy to buy toothpaste. She wants to buy her favorite brand. She finds it on the shelf, pays her money and leaves. Chances are that her favorite brand was not the lowest priced among the various available toothpastes. It might not even have been the most effective at cleaning teeth. But it was the brand she was familiar with.
Read more: http://www.bloombergview.com/articles/2015-05-06/why-voters-are-loyal-to-the-clinton-brand