That you're aware the forum exists tells me you're not an average user of technology. I'd be willing to bet a month's wage that most people reading this post decided on a device in the manner you describe. I submit we are not average users.

When Samsung began their marketing campaign, it wasn't directed at you and I. It had very little to do with the Operating System and more to do with cute features the company had added. See 'bump'. The campaign was directed at average users.

I was thinking more of my parents, girlfriend, and her family who have never heard of this website and are definitely not tech savvy. I think that it's hard to separate marketing/branding from software, though. Her family definitely just assumes that anything not Apple is cheap, while she decided to switch to an Android phone not too long ago - once she made that choice, she went with the phone that looked the coolest (HTC One).

It's hard to say who's average, though. At the end of the day, I think it's probably brand name recognition more than anything else which drives purchasing decisions. I'd like to see what the manufacturers know...

Actually, now that I'm thinking about it what I think drove my girlfriend to Android more than anything else is probably how poorly her macbook aged (although with any laptop you can only expect a couple of good years, so she might be being a bit unfair) - especially how awful iTunes is on that thing. Just opening iTunes completely grinds that thing to a halt.