S.G. Ndlovu and S. Heeralal
Vol 17 | Issue 1 pp. 33-42
Abstract
The introduction of private label brands in the grocery retail industry has created various opportunities for grocery retailers. It has also afforded them the opportunity to increase their sales and improve profitability margins, while cutting on the cost of production for private label brands. Interestingly, while grocery retailers seize the opportunities brought by their investment on private label brands, they are however faced with perceptions that arise from customers. The main objective of this research was to uncover the perceptions of customers toward private label brands, using eThekwini Municipality as the case study. This present study employed a quantitative research approach, where 389 participants were systematically sampled to participate. Quantitative and qualitative data was analysed using SPSS version 25 and the content analysis respectively. The significant finding of the analysed data shows that customers in the eThekwini Municipality were still skeptical of private label brands. Furthermore, the study found that demographic factors of age and salary of customers have effect on their perceptions toward private label brands. This paper contributes to the scarce literature on private label brands, in the South African context. Further equipping grocery retailers with the understanding of customers’ perception concerning their private label brands.
Keywords: Private label brands; Customers; Grocery retailers; Perceptions; Manufacturer brands
This article may be downloaded from the following locations:
References
Bergès-Sennou, F. Hassan, D. Monier-Dilhan, S. and Raynal, H. 2007. Consumers’ decision between private labels and national brands in a retailer’s store: a mixed multinomial logit application (No. 688-2016-47179).
Beneke, J. 2010. Consumer perceptions of private label brands within the retail grocery sector of South Africa. African Journal of Business Management, 4(2): 203-220.
Beneke, J. Brito, A. and Garvey, K.A. 2015. Propensity to buy private label merchandise: the contributory effects of store image, price, risk, quality and value in the cognitive stream. International Journal of Retail & Distribution Management, 43(1): 43-62
Boyle, P.J. and Lathrop, E.S. 2013. The value of private label brands to US consumers: an objective and subjective assessment. Journal of retailing and Consumer Services, 20(1): 80-86.
Business Tech. 2016. How South Africa’s super-rich spend their cash vs the poor. Retrieved from: https://businesstech.co.za/news/ banking/124247/how-south-africas-super-rich-spend-their-cash-vs-the-poor/ [Accessed: 4 April 2019].
Chopra, K. and Dasgupta, S. 2017. Study of Consumer Buying Motives for Private Labels in India. International Journal of Engineering and Management Research (IJEMR), 7(1): 116-120.
Deloitte. 2015. 2015-2016 Private Label Sourcing Survey Shifts in countries and capabilities. Retrieved from: https:// www2.deloitte.com/content/dam/Deloitte/global/Documents/Consumer-Business/gx-cb-private-label-2015-2016.PDF [Accessed:23 May 2019].
Desai, D. 2009. Role of Relationship Management and Value Co-Creation in Social Marketing. Social Marketing Quarterly, 15(2): 112-125.
De, D. and Singh, A. 2017. Consumer’s perspective and retailer’s consideration towards purchase of private label brands. Procedia computer science, 122(2017): 587-594.
Trade Intelligence. 2017. South African Private Label Report Set. Retrieved from: https://www.tradeintelligence.co.za/Reports/ Special/private-label-in-south-africa [Accessed: 30 May 2019].
Diallo, M.F. and Seck, A.M. 2018. How store service quality affects attitude toward store brands in emerging countries: Effects of brand cues and the cultural context. Journal of Business Research, 86(2018): 311-320.
Dimitrieska, S. Koneska, L. Kozareva, K.G. and Teofilovska, J. 2017, September. The Power of Private Brands. In CBU International Conference Proceedings, 5(2017): 114-119.
Fibri, D.L.N. and Frøst, M.B. 2019. Consumer perception of original and modernised traditional foods of Indonesia Appetite, 133(2019): 61-69.
Hudson, M. 2018. Is Private Label Merchandise Right for Your Retail Store? Retrieved from: https://www.thebalancesmb.com/ private-label-2890207. [Accessed: 14 December 2019].
In, F.C. and Ahmad, A.Z., The Effect of Demographic Factors on Consumer Intention to Purchase Green Personal Care Products. Proceeding of INSIGHT 2018 1st International Conference on Religion, Social Sciences and Technological Education 25-26 September 2018 – Universiti Sains Islam Malaysia, Nilai. Malaysia.
Kazmi, S, Y. 2012. The consumer perception and buying behavior decisions (The pasta study). International Journal of Advancement in Research & Technology, 6(1): 11-20.
Koshy, A. 2008. Quality Perceptions of Private Label Brands Conceptual Framework and Agenda for Research. Indian Institute of Management, 2008: 2-22.
Lin, C.Y. Marshall, D. and Dawson, J. 2009. Consumer attitudes towards a European retailer’s private brand food products: an integrated model of Taiwanese consumers. Journal of Marketing Management, 25(9): 875-891.
McNeill, L. and Wyeth, E. 2011. The private label grocery choice: consumer drivers to purchase. The International Review of Retail, Distribution and Consumer Research, 21(1): 95-109.
Mehra, R. 2016. Effect of Demographic Factors on the Purchase of Private Label Brands of Food Products from Organized Retail Stores in Chandigarh. Journal of Commerce & Management Thought, 7(1): 1-10.
Mercer, E. 2017. Factors Affecting Consumer Perceptions. Retrieved from: https://bizfluent.com/info-12086003-factors-affectingconsumer-perception.html [Accessed: 30 June 2019].
Nielsen. 2014. The state of private label around the world. Retrieved from: https://www.nielsen.com/content/dam/nielsenglobal/ kr/docs/global-report/2014/Nielsen%20Global%20Private%20Label%20Report%20November%202014.pdf. [Accessed: 14 December 2019].
Nielsen. 2018. The rise and rise again of private label brands. Retrieved from: https://www.nielsen.com/content/dam/nielsenglobal/ ru/docs/2018.02%20-%20Global%20%20The%20Rise%20and%20Rise%20Again%20of%20Private%20Label.pdf [Accessed: 15 December 2018].
Olbrich, R. Jansen, H.C. Hundt, M. 2017. Effects of pricing strategies and product quality on private label and national brand performance. Retrieved from: https://ideas.repec.org/a/eee/joreco/v34y2017icp294-301.html. [Accessed: 15 December 2019).
Pratap, A. 2019. The Effect of Demographic Factors on Consumer Behavior: Age, Sex, Income and Education. Retrieved from:
https://notesmatic.com/2017/07/effect-of-demographic-factors-on-consumer-behavior-age-sex-income-and-education/ [Accessed: 17 December 2019].
Puška, A., Stojanović, I., Šadić, S. and Bečić, H., 2018. The influence of demographic characteristics of consumers on decisions to purchase technical products. The European Journal of Applied Economics, 15(2):1-16.
Rossi, P. Borges, A. and Bakpayev, M. 2015. Private labels versus national brands: The effects of branding on sensory perceptions and purchase intentions. Journal of retailing and consumer services, 27(2015): 74-79.
Sarkar, S. Sharma, D. and Kalro, A.D. 2015. The Effect of Naming Strategy and Packaging on Perceived Quality and Purchase Intention of Private Label Brands. In Advances in National Brand and Private Label Marketing (pp. 103-111).
Sekaran, U. Bougie, R. 2013. Research Methods for Business: A Skill-Building Approach. 6th edition. John Wiley & Sons Ltd, West Sussex: United Kingdom.
Sethuraman, R. and Gielens, K. 2014. Determinants of store brand share. Journal of Retailing, 90(2): 141-153.
UK Essays. 2018. Factors affecting customer perception. Retrieved from: https://www.ukessays.com/essays/beauty-therapy/factorsaffecting-customer-perception.php?vref=1. [Accessed: 30 January 2019].
Valaskova, K. Kliestikova, J. and Krizanova, A. 2018. Consumer Perception of Private Label Products: An Empirical Research. Journal of Competitiveness. 10(3): 149-163.
Wang, X., Boys, K. and Hooker, N.H., 2019. Organic innovation: The growing importance of private label products in the United States. Case Studies in Food Retailing and Distribution, (2019): 137-158).
