I generally avoid anything with visible branding, aside from sneakers where it is largely a given and I found some nikes that work well with my feet.
I do look to buy quality/durability where possible, within budgetary reason, I try not to contribute to our mountains of garbage too much. Naturally i also avoid short fashion which will look bad next year, which is luckily pretty easy as a man.
For most other things aside from clothing I generally follow the military grade system: buy the cheapest thing meeting your needs. I generally have an initial idea what I am looking for (I basically never go on a sort of unprompted or unguided shopping spree just to buy something) and the needed properties, and I will opt for whatever does what I need the least expensive.
For food and groceries i generally buy organic store brand, though a few brand products just taste irreplaceable, so i go with those.