Abstract: the article presents the results of a sociological study aimed at determining how much the factor of intensity of competition between manufacturers affects consumer behavior in situations when the trademarks of the selected products differ from each other or are similar to the extent of confusion. The hypothesis of the study is that in markets with more intensive competition levels of similarity to the extent of confusion is on average higher, as consumers’ attention is subjected to higher loads, and if it is necessary to make decisions in a short time the border between trademarks in the minds of consumers are easier erased. The results show that there are systematically higher confusion rates for individualization tools used in highly competitive markets than for individualization tools from markets with low competition. This conclusion is valid both for cases of pre-known similarity to the extent of confusion and for cases of pre-known absence of this phenomenon. The second significant result of the study is that the indicator of brand confusion has a significantly greater differentiating power compared to the indicator of identification of manufacturers.
Keywords: trademark, commercial dispute, confusion of trademarks, intensity of competition, consumer behavior, sociological expertise, consumer survey