英国中产阶级偏爱超市自主品牌

Admire them for their prudence - but don't tell their friends.

Middle-income earners are the most enthusiastic consumers of supermarket own-brand products.

Almost half (48 per cent) of those earning between £25,000 and £50,000 said they would always choose a supermarket label - generally considered a budget option - when possible, a survey has found.

But more than 10 per cent of them say they are too embarrassed to admit to their friends that they do so.

However, they will draw a line in their hunt for a food bargain.

More than a third of middle earners said they would only shop in a supermarket they deemed to be 'socially reputable', with Sainsbury's and Waitrose topping the popularity poll.

Of these, two thirds (62 per cent) claimed that the main motive was a fear of being judged financially on where they shopped.

Of the 48 per cent of middle earners who always chose own-brand products, 10 per cent said they tried to avoid buying any other type of branded good, with 62 per cent admitting frugality and just 12 per cent believing own brand items were of better quality.

But 14 per cent of those who bought the supermarket brands would not want their friends to know.

A spokesman for MyVoucher-Codes, which carried out the research, said: 'Although stereotype would have us believe that own brand means a lack of quality, it seems that the middle class is more financially motivated when food shopping, shunning the initial prejudices that often lead to their choice of supermarket.'

He added that standards have risen to such an extent that a supermarket own brand does not necessarily mean lower quality than the known food label.

你可以赞赏他们会过日子，但千万别告诉他们的朋友。

英国中等收入者是超市自有品牌商品最忠实的消费者。

一项调查发现，英国年收入在2.5万至5万英镑之间的人中，近一半（48%）的人在购物时会尽可能地选择价格一般较为低廉的超市自有品牌商品。

但超过10%的人因为觉得不好意思，而不会跟朋友说起他们的这一消费习惯。

然而，这些超市自有品牌的忠诚消费者也有他们的原则。

超过三分之一的中等收入者说他们只会选择去他们认为“有名气”的超市购物，其中圣百利和维特罗斯超市最受欢迎。

其中三分之二的人（62%）称选择“有名气”超市的主要原因是害怕别人会据此对他们的经济状况评头论足。

在中等收入者中，48%的人一直都是选择超市自有品牌商品，10%的人称他们一般尽量不去购买任何其他品牌的商品，62%的人承认自己很节俭，只有12%的人认为超市自有品牌质量更好。

不过，14%购买超市品牌商品的人不愿意让朋友知道他们的这一消费习惯。

开展该调查的代币券公司MyVoucher-Codes的一名发言人说：“尽管人们对超市自有品牌抱有成见，认为它们质量不好，但似乎中产阶级在购买食品时，会更多地从经济方面考虑，抛开最初让他们选择有名气超市的那些偏见。”

他说，如今的产品质量标准大幅提升，超市自有品牌并不一定比名牌商品质量差。

Vocabulary:

prudence: care and good sense that someone shows when making a decision or taking action 节俭；善于经营

own-brand: products which have the trademark or label of the shop which sells them, especially a supermarket chain. They are normally cheaper than other popular brands. 自家品牌的（指产品以商店自定的品牌出售）

budget: low in price 价格低廉的；花钱少的