Brand and quality effects on introduction of store brand products

This paper considers a supply chain with a single manufacturer selling a national brand product via a single retailer. The retailer has the option to introduce a product under his own brand into the market with the same functionality as the national brand product. We simultaneously consider the consumer bases of the national brand and store brand along with consumers' willingness to pay for quality and the supply chain control (centralized vs. decentralized). By analyzing the game-theoretic models, we offer managerial insights about the influences of brands' consumer bases on the quality and pricing decisions of the retailer, and on the manufacturer's willingness-to-collaborate when the retailer introduces the store brand product. We find that, although it is usually easier for the retailer to introduce a product under a store brand with a large consumer base, doing so with manufacturers of well established national brands can be difficult, when the retailer often has to greatly mark down his store brand product's quality and price. We also find that a store brand product with a small consumer base shall be launched only when the supply chain is switched to a centralized control and when the manufacturer's national brand has a large consumer base. These important findings offer guidance to both national brand manufacturers and retail store managers regarding the launch of store brand products.     

Effect of Store Brand Introduction on Channel Price Leadership: An Empirical Investigation

In this study, we conduct an empirical investigation of the impact of store brand introductions on the price leadership relations in a distribution channel between a retailer and national brand manufacturers. We analyze a multi-product category retail database from a major grocery chain, which captures both a period before and a period after the introduction of a store brand in each product category. By applying the time series approach to this data set, we show that store brand introductions frequently lead to price leadership changes, generally in a more favorable direction for the retailer than for the national brand manufacturer, evidenced by either the decay of the manufacturers’ price leadership or the rise of the retailer’s price leadership. However, such a change is not universal but tends to be concentrated among a certain quality tier of national brands, which is not always the low-tier, but sometimes the top-tier despite the low-price low-quality position of the store brand. The patterns detected in the data suggest that these changes are likely to reflect the retailer’s strategic effort to reshape the price leadership environment in a product category aided by the enhanced bargaining power and managerial sophistication that accompanied the store brand introductions.     

The influence of price and brand loyalty on store brands versus national brands

Abstract

This article investigates how price and brand loyalty of three frequently purchased product categories can influence the purchase decision process of store brands versus national brands. A multinomial logit model was constructed to analyse the data obtained from a consumer panel. The results confirmed that brand loyalty is the main variable which influences the purchase decision process of both national and store brands. The influence of price on the purchase decision process is product specific. There is a clear distinction between the buyer's profile of store brands and national brands. But there is no evidence of any correlation between demographic variables and national brands or store brands.     

Store brand and national brand promotion attitudes antecedents

Retailers compete against national manufacturers by launching store brands. National manufactures regularly use brand promotions to fight store brands back. The purpose of this article is to find out whether attitudes toward national brand promotions and store brands have similar or different conceptual antecedents. The study presents and tests a model of the effects of shoppers´ characteristics (price and non-price-related) on attitudes toward store brand and national brand promotions. The results support that constructs relating to price impact both store brand attitude and national brand promotion attitude, but the strength of some of these relationships differ. Other shopper characteristics like brand loyalty and store loyalty, have similar negative and positive effects, respectively. These slight differences suggest that promotions of national brands might be a good tool for fighting back store brands, but manufacturers need to design and target these promotions carefully in order to avoid head-to-head competition.     

How Do Price Perceptions of Different Brand Types Affect Shopping Value and Store Loyalty?

This research investigates the relationships among price perceptions for different brand types (national brands, standard store brands, regional store brands, organic store brands), shopping value dimensions (quality, price, social, and emotion value), and store loyalty (retention and word of mouth (WOM)). A comprehensive model depicts determinants of customer store loyalty. Using structural equation modeling, the model test includes 671 consumers intercepted during shopping trips. The data analysis yields several surprising results. In particular, low product price perceptions do not necessarily signal negative store quality evaluations. Shopping value dimensions influence store retention loyalty and WOM behavior differently. Furthermore, different brand types exert distinct effects on the value creation process. Favorable prices for national and standard store brands have comparable positive effects on store price value and emotional value creation; appealing prices of regional store brands instead reduce the emotional value of the store, and low prices for organic store brand products significantly increase social value creation.     

Bridge,Focus, Attack,or Stimulate: Retail Category Management Strategies with a Store Brand

We investigate a monopolist retailer's category management strategy where the main strategic decisions are how to horizontally position a store brand relative to the incumbent national brands and how to price the store and national brands for retail category profit maximization. We analyze a market composed of two consumer segments with differing tastes and heterogeneity with respect to willingness to pay and a product category consisting of two competing national brands and one store brand. We find that contrary to the existing literature, it is not always optimal for a retailer to position its store brand against the leading national brand; instead there are many situations where it is best to position the store brand close to the weaker national brand or to position it in the “middle” so it appeals to both national brands' target segments. In the process we identify four distinct category management strategies that a retailer can use with a store brand. In three of these the optimal store brand price is the brand's monopoly price, while in the remaining one strategy the price is lower. We also suggest an easy to implement means for a retailer to determine which strategy is best to use, depending on the particular competitive environment present before the introduction of the store brand and the relative quality of the store brand. We find that the store brand entry is most beneficial to the retailer when the national brands are moderately differentiated. Finally we show that introducing a store brand not only allows the retailer to garner a higher share of the channel profits through higher retail margins, but also often provides the retailer the benefit of increases in national brand unit sales as well as incremental sales from the store brand. JEL Classification: M310     

Brand choice and deep price discounts

Whenever price is presented in a discount format it can perform an informative role in brand choice. This article postulates the occurrence of an “attribution” process to account for the possibility that a very deep price discount produces a decrease in the desirability of the discounted brand under choice conditions involving unfamiliar brands and/or discount store (as opposed to department store). Hypotheses derived from the theoretical analysis are tested in a laboratory experiment. The results of the study support the proposition that the desirability of a discounted unfamiliar brand does not continue to increase as the size of the price discount increases. Predictions concerning the effects of store type and size of price discount were not confirmed. The article concludes with a brief discussion of the implications for marketing management.     

An empirical study of consumer behavior related to private labels and national brand promotions

One day while in the store, Bernard grabs his usual Dominick's cream cheese off the shelf. I notice and point out that the national brand of Philadelphia cream cheese is on sale and less expensive. Bernard looks at the two products and actually hesitates for a while to switch to the national brand. His hesitation makes it clear that his preference is not based solely on price. (Chang Coupland 2005, 115).     

Brand personality appeal in retailing: Comparing fashion- and grocery retailing

In a mature retail market, branding can offer retailers opportunities for setting themselves apart. This study examines the construct ‘brand personality appeal’ (BPA; Freling et al., 2011) in retailing. Two consumer surveys are administered, on fashion retailing (n = 104) and grocery retailing (n = 101), focusing on (1) store personality, (2) BPA, and (3) retailer brand equity. A SmartPLS estimation shows that ‘enthusiasm’ is a personality trait that appeals to consumers regardless of the retail context, whereas ‘sophistication’ matters more in fashion retailing and ‘unpleasantness’ in grocery retailing. BPA is a significant driver of retail brand equity, regardless of the retail context.     

New Brands Versus Brand Extensions, Attitudes Versus Choice: Experimental Evidence for Theory and Practice

The current study compares better-fitting and worse-fitting new brand names and brand extensions on brand attitudes and choice shares across situations that differ in terms of the amount of product information available and consumer knowledge of the target product category (which had limited effects), 35[emsp4 ]mm cameras (choice-set competitors Nikon and Minolta). While brand extensions and better-fitting brands generally enjoyed more positive brand attitudes and larger choice shares, effects were moderated by product information. When information was limited to brand name and price, the better-fitting brand extension (Sony) commanded more share than did the better-fitting new brand (Optix) which in turn commanded more share than did either the worse-fitting extension (Nike) or the worse-fitting new brand (Topix). But when information on product features was added, target brands were chosen similarly across brand names where the better-fitting new brand Optix garnered slightly (non-significantly; 5%) more share than the better-fitting extension Sony. This weak preference was reversed, however, in the attitude data where Sony was rated significantly higher in liking than Optix. Two focal conclusions emerge. First, new brands can perform as well as or better than brand extensions when consumers process product information. In this study, brand-extension advantages were confined to situations of limited information processing and better fit. Second, since branding effects differed across attitudes and choice, researchers hoping to duplicate in the laboratory the types of branding effects likely to occur in the marketplace may want to expand their traditional focus on attitudes to include choice.     

自有品牌对连锁商业品牌战略的影响分析

零售商实施品牌战略是制造商和零售商之间垂直竞争加剧的产物,也是应对零售商之间水平竞争的需要.零售商品牌战略包括企业品牌和商品及服务品牌两个层次.作为零售商商品品牌的重要内容,自有品牌通过企业品牌和制造商品牌两个路径对零售企业的品牌战略产生影响.为保证品牌战略的有效实施,零售企业必须处理好业态选择、品类管理、品牌策略的管理等.     

Determinants of Store Brand Share

Private labels or store brands have witnessed considerable growth in the last few decades, especially in grocery products. However, market shares of store brand vary considerably across categories, markets, and countries. A natural question of interest to academics and practitioners is what factors influence store brand market shares. Drawing on a utility framework, we develop 21 consumer, manufacturer, retailer, and product-market characteristics that can influence store brand share. We test the empirical generalizability of the effect of these determinants through a meta-analysis of data from 54 individual and aggregate market studies. Twenty of the 21 determinants show significant, empirically generalizable effects. We discuss the key findings, their implications, and directions for future empirical research.     

Interplays between manufacturer advertising and retailer store brand introduction: Agency vs. wholesale contracts

In retail supply chains, manufacturers' advertising for national brands and retailers' store brand introduction may relate to each other, and two types of contracts, i.e., agency contract and wholesale contract, are widely used. This paper uses game-theoretic models to investigate the strategic interaction between a manufacturer's advertising strategy and a retailer's store brand introduction strategy. We derive the equilibrium outcomes, including wholesale price, retail price, market demand, retailer's and manufacturer's profits under different contract forms. We find that when the product cost is small relative to the perceived value of the store brand, the introduction of a store brand will benefit the retailer. The retailer is more likely to introduce store brands under the wholesale contract than under the agency contract. In addition, compared with the wholesale contract, the agency contract may increase both the manufacturer's and the retailer's profits and lead to Pareto improvement for them.     

Consumer attitudes and loyalty towards private brands

Private or store brands improve the efficiency of consumer decision making by offering equivalent quality products at lower prices. The present study evaluated consumer attitudes towards private brands with the goal of understanding their appeal in order to enhance efforts to convince more consumers to buy them. We used three samples (ns = 279, 245 and 305) of US consumers to compare attitudes of buyers of private and national brands in three product categories: orange juice, cereal and bottled water. The results show that private label buyers (23% of orange juice, 6.5% of cereal and 14% of bottled water buyers) consider brands themselves to be less important and private brands to offer better performance than do national brand buyers. When asked about specific brands, national brand buyers tended to be price insensitive towards national brands, and private label buyers price insensitive towards store brands. In addition, the national brand buyers saw some of the national brands to be more relevant to their lifestyles and needs, but the private label buyers saw the private labels the same way. Being relevant to consumers' lives appears to influence brand selection. Besides touting lower prices, private brand promotions might stress the equivalent performance of private labels and create promotions showing how these brands can be relevant to consumers' lifestyles and needs.     

Servbrand Framework: A Business-To-Business Services Brand Equity Framework

ABSTRACT

Purpose: The research reported on here set out to develop a tailored branding model for business to business (B-to-B) services by applying the brand resonance pyramid to a selected B-to-B services context.

The brand resonance pyramid was developed based on research that was predominantly consumer product or individual brand oriented, though one of the objectives when the model was developed was that “the model had to be versatile and applicable to all possible kinds of brands and industry settings. As more diverse applications of branding continued to emerge for products, services, organizations, people, places, and so forth, the model needed to have far-ranging relevance”. The brand resonance pyramid therefore had to be applicable to any context, including B-to-B services contexts. However, consumer goods branding strategies are not directly transferable to B-to-B or services markets and there are documented differences between the B-to-B and business-to-consumer (B2C) markets and products and services contexts. There is also doubt regarding the validity of the contention that the brand resonance pyramid should be applicable to the B-to-B sector.

Methodology: Using an interpretivist qualitative research approach and an exploratory research strategy, the Servbrand framework was developed empirically by applying the brand resonance pyramid to a selected B-to-B services context. Fourteen useful in-depth interviews were obtained from appropriate and information rich participants that represented more than 14 of the 89 organization that were included in the selection frame. Some of the participants were responsible for the relevant decisions of more than one organization.

Findings: The results from the study reported on here (summarized as Figure 5) prompted the inclusion of a people dimension and elevated the importance of relationships in an amended B-to-B services brand equity framework. The people brand-building block includes the dimensions of attitude and demeanor, personality and values, personableness, product knowledge and client knowledge. Relationships, as the ultimate aim of the framework, concern both interpersonal relationships and partnerships.

The article presents a conceptual framework to guide effective brand building strategies in a selected B-to-B services context. Researchers can use the framework to test its applicability in other contexts, which will contribute to the amendment of a significant brand equity management framework.

The Servbrand framework can assist marketing practitioners to improve the effectiveness of strategic brand management for B-to-B services.

Contribution: The empirical research contributes to three areas of brand equity research, namely: 1) the offering type – by investigating service offerings rather than product offerings; 2) the brand level – by investigating organization-level brands rather than product-level brands; and 3) context – by investigating a B-to-B context rather than a B2C context. A revised brand resonance pyramid is proposed and called the Servbrand framework.     

Store Brand Quality and Retailer’s Product Line Design

This study analyzes a retailer’s store brand quality decision in vertically differentiated product categories. We analyze a game theoretic model composed of one or two national brand manufacturers and a retailer, who strategically chooses the quality level(s) of its store brand(s) relative to the well-established national brand position(s) to maximize its category profit. Our analysis reveals that the nature of a retailer’s store brand quality positioning is quite different from the manufacturer’s national brand positioning decision, and that the best position for a store brand is not “as close to a national brand as possible” as previous studies suggest. Instead, the optimal quality position of each store brand is remarkably sensitive to the distribution of consumers’ willingness-to-pay. In particular, the relative proportions of quality sensitive consumers and price sensitive consumers determine the balance of three key strategic forces — the market expansion force, the retail margin force, and the consumer profitability force, leading to different optimal product line designs for store brands across different category environments. Interestingly, against multiple incumbent national brands, the retailer’s optimal product line design includes a store brand positioned at the highest quality level in the category only if most consumers are moderately quality conscious. We also analyze the implications of national brands’ brand equity for retailers’ store brand strategy.     

Using product sampling to augment the perceived quality of store brands

Two experiments test the ability of in-store sampling to enhance a store brand's perceived quality (Study 1) and whether such an outcome is contingent on quality level (Study 2). Study 1 revealed for two distinct grocery products that the perceived quality of store brands benefited significantly when participants tried these brands prior to judging their quality, but that no such benefit accrued to national brands. Study 2 found that sampling enhanced quality perceptions of a store brand only when the brand was of high (vs. low) quality. Implications for retailers’ store brand practices are discussed and suggestions for additional research are offered.     

Re-thinking the relationship between store brand attitude and store brand loyalty: a simultaneous approach

Academic attention to the relationship between store brand attitude and store brand loyalty is insufficient. Our paper fills this research gap by proposing and testing a theoretical model that demonstrates a reciprocal and mutually-reinforcing relationship between store brand attitude and store brand loyalty. The literature review identifies independent variables as potential predictors of both characteristics. We apply a two stages least squares model to data that come from a survey of Spanish households. The findings corroborate some of the propositions of the conceptual model: the reciprocal relationship between the two dependent variables; the influence of risk, deal proneness, price and value consciousness and extrinsic and intrinsic cues on store brand attitude; and the influence of exploration, deal proneness, store loyalty, store brand trust and store brand affective commitment on store brand loyalty.     

品牌建设视野下本土护肤品牌的发展策略研究

品牌建设是品牌培育和发展的重要途径。本文探讨了本土品牌建设的发展策略:差异化定位,打造民族特色的中草药品牌;注入传统文化,精心设计品牌识别系统;加大研发力度,创新产品类别和功能;树立质量安全观念,树立民族品牌高品质形象;借助网络广告和微博营销,多角度全方位进行品牌推广;维护品牌权益,创新品牌表现形式。     

Role of Retailer Positioning and Product Category on the Relationship Between Store Brand Consumption and Store Loyalty

Recent empirical evidence regarding the relationship between store brand purchase and store loyalty suggests a nonmonotonic relationship (inverted U): positive up to a certain store brand consumption level, after which it becomes negative. To investigate this idea further, this research analyzes the role of (1) the retailer's competitive positioning, and specifically its price positioning, and (2) the product category. On the one hand, the more price oriented the retailer's positioning, the more favorable is the relationship between store brand consumption and store loyalty. The threshold level of store brand purchasing at which the relationship becomes negative occurs later, and this negative relationship is less prominent. On the other hand, the relationship between store brand consumption and store loyalty appears to differ across product categories as a consequence of several factors, including perceived risk. The relationship therefore appears more favorable for risky categories. An empirical study of ten retailers that adopt different price positions corroborates these propositions.