Do you ever wonder why you keep going back to the same ‘mamak’, even though each time you’re there, you complain about the service, the declining food quality… and the size of the rats? It’s not just the ‘kawness’ of the ‘Milo Ais’ or the thick foam on their ‘Kopi Tarik’.
It’s something deeper. It’s the routine of rotating the wobbly plastic tables just right on the tarmac. It’s the rhythm of the metal spatula scraping against the griddle, to the beat with the ‘Roti Canai’ being fluffed together. It’s the incessant racket that’s the background track to your conversations.
What makes certain brands, places, and rituals feel irreplaceable –despite their flaws? It’s not just familiarity. It’s something far deeper.
The way you and your friends always end up at the same spot, like it’s an unspoken rule. It’s not just familiarity. It’s not even habit. It’s something more than that. You don’t just go there. You return.
Heck, after a while, even your grumbling complaints to the owner becomes part of the tradition.
People like to believe they make rational choices. We compare prices, weigh pros and cons, and pick what makes the most logical sense. But in reality, we don’t. If logic alone dictated behaviour, billion-dollar brands wouldn’t exist in categories where cheaper alternatives are readily available.
If it were really about functionality, no one would willingly endure the slow psychological death of assembling furniture with tiny Allen keys and vague instructions, only to discover that piece not in the manual, or the one missing screw. And yet, we do. Not just once, but over and over. Because it’s not about the thing itself… it’s about the ritual.
The sequence. The way it feels like a familiar path we’ve walked so many times that any deviation feels unnatural. It’s what makes us drive back to our usual haunts for a morning coffee, even after moving miles away. Which, funnily enough, is exactly how this article began…
It’s not that these ideas are entirely new, but it’s often talked about as if it exists in isolation. As if they function separately. That’s the mistake!
It’s not that the ideas I present here are entirely new. The ways brands become part of our lives have been studied in branding, psychology, and behavioral economics for years. But it’s often taken a myopic skew, missing out on the holistic view.
We talk about brand loyalty as if it’s just about repeat purchases. We talk about it as if it exists in isolation. As if they function separately. And consumers experience each independently. But they don’t. They’re all at play simultaneously. Yet, we keep approaching them as if they are. That’s the mistake.
That’s why this isn’t just about brand loyalty. It’s about something deeper. Something more powerful. Something that once it takes hold, is harder to break.
This is the first pillar of ‘Brand Entanglement’.
Habitual Integration – a brand becomes entangled when using it is no longer an active decision… it’s the Reflex Effect. Think about the last time you zombie-scrolled through your phone – which app did your fingers open without thinking?
Similarly, some brands aren’t a conscious choice, they’ve become muscle memory. In ASEAN, ride-hailing isn’t something most people actively decide on anymore. Despite numerous alternatives in each market (some possibly more competitive), it’s almost automatic for most of us. You don’t decide to use a specific app, you just open it by default. Do you shop for the best rates, or fastest available ride?
In a world where people claim to be more selective with their purchases, the truth is that if a brand fits seamlessly into daily life, it bypasses that filter altogether.
Here’s where it gets interesting.
We’ve all heard that Millennials and Gen Z are the most ethically conscious generations yet. They champion sustainability, demand transparency, and claim to reject mass consumption. Brands scramble to prove their eco-credentials, terrified of being cancelled by this socially aware demographic. The message is clear – young consumers care!
We hear that young consumers today advocate for ethical consumption and anti-consumerism, so why is there a contradiction gap between their ideals and actual purchase behaviour? Do they care enough to speak up about it, yet not enough to change their own habits?
They claim to prefer sustainable brands, and are willing to pay more for ethically sourced products. Some even insist they boycott companies that don’t align with their values. But when it comes down to actual purchase behaviour, the contradiction is stark.
Fast fashion — one of the most criticised industries for its history of environmental and ethical violations — continues to thrive, and not just in spite of Gen Z, but because of them. Brands like Shein, Zara, and H&M have built empires fueled largely by young consumers who prioritise affordability and trends over sustainability.
Shein alone raked in US38 billion in 2024 (a notable slowdown from previous years), with over 88 million subscribers, more than 60% made up of Millennials and Gen Zs, an astonishing testament to the fact that, when given a choice, many still opt for what’s cheap, convenient and appealing, over what their conscience would dictate.
And it’s not just fast fashion. Some of the most beloved brands among Gen Z, have a long history of being criticised for questionable labour practices and sustainability concerns, yet remain cultural icons. Even food and beverage brands, who are frequently called out for health concerns, still dominate the market with these demographics.
The question isn’t whether Millennials and Gen Z care about these issues, in theory. They absolutely do, at least, when they’re talking about it. But when it comes to where they actually spend their money; more often than not, they don’t care enough to change their habits!
The reason? Emotional Attachment. It’s the second pillar of Brand Entanglement. We don’t just buy products, we buy things that associate with who we are. Some brands sell status, aspiration, or even rebellion, and that often wins. Call it the Identity Link.
Some brands achieve entanglement not because they are irreplaceable, but because of the moment that comes with it!
Even in industries where people claim to be making better choices, their decisions say otherwise. Some of the most vocal critics of mass production still line up for the latest tech releases. People who condemn wastefulness still engage in the ritual of getting their daily favourite drink, despite knowing the environmental cost. it is Ritualisation… the third pillar.
This is where the Experience Lock comes into play. Some brands aren’t products, they’re part of our life. They’ve achieved entanglement not because they offer something irreplaceable, but because they offer something structured into our routine.
A quick fix for your noodle craving, that particular way you like it, it all adds up. This is why, even with the sentiment about processed food rising, there’s always a cup or two in the cupboard, and in your travel bags. It’s not the noodles alone that you desire, but the moment that comes with it!
But the strongest pillar; the fourth, goes beyond emotion and ritual — it’s Infrastructure Dependency — a Functional Necessity. The brands that achieve this stand the test of time, as they are embedded in how people function.
Digital payment systems, for example, are increasingly entwined into every aspect of our daily life, from transactions, transportation, peer-to-peer transfers and even reward ecosystems, replacing or removing them would feel disruptive.
And then there’s nostalgia.
The Nostalgic Imprint, the fifth pillar, creates the Recall Factor. It ensures that some brands don’t need to fight for attention because they’ve already etched a place in our memory. If a brand has been part of a person’s life long before they ever had to justify their purchasing decisions, it holds power. This is why some foods, drinks, or consumer brands survive decades of change — they remind us of home, childhood, or treasured moment.
The next generation of entanglement will be from brands that create needs it can fulfil, expanding its influence in shaping consumer choices.
But even nostalgia has its limits. The world revolves. Preferences evolve. Technology disrupts. What was once irreplaceable can become irrelevant overnight. Some brands that once dominant are now footnotes in history.
There’s was a time not too long ago when there was seemingly only one brand of mobile phone that everyone used, today it’s devices are hardly heard of — not because they did something wrong, but because something more adaptive replaced them.
It’s why Predictive Adaptation, the sixth and final pillar of Brand Entanglement is also the most critical. The next generation of entanglement will be from the Invisible Nudge of brands that create needs it can fulfil; adapting, collaborating, assimilating and expanding its influence in shaping consumer behaviour and choices.
Each of these six pillars of Brand Entanglement — Habitual Integration, Emotional Attachment, Ritualisation, Infrastructure Dependency, Nostalgic Imprint, and Predictive Adaptation — has been studied before in different ways.
We know that habits drive consumer behaviour. We know that emotions trigger deep brand connections. We know that infrastructure makes switching brands harder, and that nostalgia makes brands feel irreplaceable. But when these forces work together, entanglement is no longer just a strategy. It becomes a state of being!
Entanglement makes a brand a reflex action, functionally indispensable – making alternatives unthinkable.
A brand that achieves entanglement successfully becomes a reflex action, behaviour through habit, slipping seamlessly into daily routines until it feels second nature. It ties itself to identity through emotion, embedding itself in personal narratives and making consumers feel as if choosing otherwise would be losing a part of themselves.
Rituals emerge, locking in consumer behaviour as actions become instinctive, repeated not out of necessity but because they’ve become woven into the fabric of everyday life. Over time, the brand becomes functionally indispensable, not just a preference but an essential component of how consumers navigate their world.
Memory plays its part too, anchoring the brand across multiple life stages, triggering nostalgia that deepens attachment and makes alternatives feel unfamiliar, even unwelcome. And at its most powerful, Brand Entanglement reaches the point of Predictive Adaptation — where the brand anticipates needs before consumers even articulate them, making decisions effortless and alternatives unthinkable.
At the end of the day, people don’t just buy products. They buy into their own self-perception.
And the brands that entangle deep enough? They don’t just stay in your life. They shape it. They don’t need to fight for attention. They don’t need to remind you they exist. They’ll just be there.
Like your favourite mamak. Like the apps you instinctively open. Like the things you reach for without thinking, they’ve become part of you.
