[eru]

> In the same way that nobody knows which milk bottles are full of chalk, nobody knows enough about the hundreds of businesses they interact with on a daily basis to TOS comparison-shop.

That's what brands and reputation are for. And it works: brands often do command a premium.

[whatshisface]

It didn't work for milk bottles that's why I used it as an example.

[eru]

Interestingly, it's working for milk in China.

(Mainland) China has regulations for milk. Including banning of chalk. Alas, those regulations aren't enforced with much teeth in practice, so consumers rely on reputation and brands. Specifically, they buy milks from oversees, like Australia, because of their superior reputation.

A big part of that reputation is that Australian companies won't be protected by the Chinese government when they screw up. So it's harder for them to hide blemishes on their reputation (at least to hide them from Chinese customers).