The impact of private labels on consumer store loyalty: An integrative perspective

This research studies the role of private labels (PLs) on consumers’ store loyalty. It offers an integrative approach that comprises several store loyalty drivers (in-store and economic factors), analyzing the role that PLs play among different types of retailers. Data were collected through an online survey. Using structural equation modeling, we run our analysis across different retail formats, assessing which factors lead to store loyalty and to what extent PLs contribute to it. Findings suggest that depending on retailers‘ market positioning, different factors contribute to loyalty and that the impact of PLs is mostly significant for medium-cost and premium supermarkets.     

Consumer transits and religious identities: towards a syncretic consumer

ABSTRACT

The majority of research on religious consumption assumes stable, singular and exclusive preferences, an individual is an adherent to one religion at a time and conversion is a radical break in identity. In examining a context where individuals can simultaneously practice multiple religions despite seemingly theologically incompatible beliefs, we introduce the concept of religious transit, allowing for a more processual understanding of religious identity. To do so, we draw on theories of religious capital, foregrounding the flexibility of this resource in enabling multifarious religious consumption. This is made possible by the religious leaders themselves; in highlighting shared rituals and discourses, they downplay any cognitive incongruences to allow for easy, market-mediated accessibility. By conceptualising four types of religious consumption, we theorise the dynamics of consumer mobility.     

Green decisions: demographics and consumer understanding of environmental labels

This research examined the demographic profiles of Australian green consumers in relation to their satisfaction of environmental labelling. It examined consumers’ understanding of labelling and empirically investigated the association of demographic profile of consumers with their attitudes towards such labels. The results indicated that some of the demographic variables were significant, which is largely consistent with earlier findings by other researchers in this area. Label dissatisfaction was higher in the older and middle age respondents. However, some respondents disagreed that labels were accurate while commenting that labels were easy to understand. The key issue arising from the findings is that in order to provide perception of accuracy in labels, it is an option to use Type I or Type III labelling on products. These labels are, arguably, more credible because they are endorsed by third party labelling experts. This would come at a cost and for green products that use third party labelling, they will also have to bear in mind to keep the prices competitive.     

Limits to labels: The role of eco‐labels in the assessment of product sustainability and routes to sustainable consumption

There has been rapid development in the methods, data and protocols for the assessment of product sustainability over the past decade. Notwithstanding this welcome development, the widespread provision of sustainable products has not occurred. Moreover, indications from a myriad of surveys suggest that consumers remain full of intent to purchase sustainably, yet these stated preferences have not translated into a widespread uptake in the purchase of more sustainable products. Heightened interest in climate change over the past couple of years has led to rising calls for labelling to allow consumers to differentiate between more or less sustainable options. Such calls apparently assume that if consumers are presented with appropriate label information their purchases will change and more sustainable purchasing will result. For many observers these calls bring more than a ring of déjà vu as the failures (or at least unfulfilled expectations) of environmental labelling schemes of the past spring to mind. A review and assessment of eco‐labelling schemes is presented. Discussion focuses on the history, successes and failures of such schemes, and consideration of their potential role (or not) in future shifts towards sustainable consumption. Behavioural, social practice, institutional and infrastructure factors are considered and labelling, legislation and other options are explored. Conclusions are drawn regarding potential routes to sustainable consumption, with particular reference to eco‐labels.     

The perceived credibility of quality labels: a scale validation with refinement

In this paper, we present quality labels as signals that reduce problems that arise under asymmetric information. We propose to closely scrutinize the concept of signal credibility, which is a key determinant of signalling effectiveness. In order to assess the perceived credibility of a quality label, we offer a revisited version of a scale originally proposed by Larceneux. The data used in this paper involve three different labels and were collected using self‐report surveys administered to 602 respondents. Based on findings from a variety of reliability and validity tests, the scale demonstrates good psychometric properties. Both theoretical and managerial implications are discussed, along with limitations and future research directions.     

Consumers' perceptions of individual and combined sustainable food labels: a UK pilot investigation

Consumers are faced with an increasing number of sustainable food labels. These different labels may be complementary or add to the increasing competition of product information in consumers' minds. We investigate: (1) the perceptions that consumers in the UK have about sustainable labels vs. other labels, such as origin or nutrition labels; and (2) consumers' reactions to combinations of different sustainable labels. Overall, the findings from two focus groups conducted in the UK indicate that consumers have positive perceptions of organic and fair trade labels but tend to be sceptical about unfamiliar labels and general claims such as ‘climate friendly’. The results also indicate the importance of familiarity, trust and fit between combinations of labels as well as between associating a label with a brand. While the combination of certain labels can enhance the value of a food product, this study also indicates that other label combinations (e.g. private and sustainable label) can detract from a label's value. Implications and recommendations are suggested for managers to counter the image of greenwashing, and for policy makers to facilitate sustainable food choices.     

Geographical FDI knowledge spillover and innovation of indigenous firms in China

In recent decades, theoretical debate on firm innovation has considered particular forms of spatial clustering and foreign direct investment as almost mutually exclusive drivers. While cluster literature pays less attention to firm heterogeneity in ownership structure, FDI literature ignores the importance of geographical dimension in spillover effects. This study combines these two lines of theoretical inquiry to investigate regional FDI knowledge spillover effects on product innovation of China's indigenous electronic firms. It is found that localized innovative-related activities of foreign-invested firms significantly facilitate product innovation of domestic firms. However, FDI horizontal spillover is more important than vertical spillover and cross-sector rather than intra-sector knowledge is significant for indigenous innovation. FDI spillover effects can be reinforced by local innovative activities of domestic firms. This study highlights the significance of geographical proximity and relatively heterogeneous knowledge in FDI spillover effects on domestic innovation but questions the mutual trust relationship between foreign and domestic firms in a cluster.     

Usage and understanding of food labels among Lebanese shoppers

Food labelling is a population‐based approach to health education that enables consumers to make better choices by providing information at the point of purchase. This study aimed to assess the food label usage and understanding and factors affecting them among Lebanese supermarket shoppers. A cross‐sectional study was conducted among 748 supermarket shoppers in Lebanon between December 2013 and February 2014 using a pre‐coded structured questionnaire. About 29.3 of the shoppers check the food labels every time they buy a food product and 15.7% never do it. Shoppers who do not read food labels identified the long time needed in reading them as top reason (34.9%), while 9.8% answered that they do not understand them. About 55.4%of the surveyed shoppers read the food labels at the supermarkets. About 44.4% of participants agreed that reading food labels is very important, while 30.3% read the food labels depending on the purchased product. Then 19.4% of participants complained that food labels contain too much information and 13.8% claimed that food labels are difficult to understand. About 60.3% think that food labels have helped people in changing their eating habits, while health and nutrition claims affected the product selection among 59.8% of participants. The food label knowledge score average was 63.1%. Older, obese shoppers having kids, suffering from chronic illness or allergies, following a specific diet and residing in big cities scored significantly (p < .05) higher. The low knowledge score necessitates the nutrition education on how to read and use the food labels. Groceries would be the perfect place to reach out mass consumers.     

Consumers' valuation of food quality labels: the case of the European geographic indication and organic farming labels

This paper assesses consumers' preferences and willingness to pay for European Union geographical indication quality labels [Protected Designation of Origin (PDO) and Protected Geographical Indications (PGI)], organic farming label and other product quality cues. Using a choice experiment, random parameter logit model and olive oil as product of interest, results suggest that respondents are willing to pay the highest premium price for a product with a PDO label, followed by organic farming label, a quality cue describing the product as extra‐virgin olive oil and then a PGI label.     

CSR: Consumer responses to the social quality of private labels

This paper investigates the responses of French consumers to the communication of the “social quality” of private labels (PL) in terms of perceived quality of the PL and intentional loyalty to the brand and the retailer. It also treats the role of some individual variables in these responses. Using experimentation with two independent groups, we show that communicating the “social quality” of the PL improves his perceived quality and the consumer′s intentional loyalty to the brand and the retailer. We also suggest through some individual variables a profile of the most sensitive consumers to the socially responsible PL.Few papers treat the relational potential of the socially responsible private label (PL) in the retailer′s strategy. This paper, through experimentation (N1=N2=400), studies this aspect on three levels: (a) consumers′ response to PL′s social quality in terms of perceived quality, (b) loyalty towards the socially responsible PL and the retailer, (c) and the role of individual variables in these responses. The findings reveal that (a) the communication of the PL′s social quality improves the perceived quality of the PL, (b) it also improves consumers′ intention of loyalty towards the PL and the retailer. It studies also (c) individual characteristics of consumers sensitive towards PL′s social quality.     

Consumer response to food labels in an emerging market: the case of Romania

This study investigates consumer response to food labels in an emerging market. More specifically, it measures the levels of awareness, objective and perceived understanding, perceived usefulness and perceived trustworthiness of the most prominent food labels found in the Romanian market. An online survey was conducted with a convenience sample of 428 respondents (45.6% males of an average age of 30.6 years). Results revealed that for most respondents, awareness levels towards food labels are generally low, except for the Guideline Daily Amount (GDA) and the organic food labels. Objective understanding towards food labels was relatively high, especially towards those food labels that included a clear text element. Perceived understanding, perceived usefulness and perceived trustworthiness were found to be consistently high with regard to the GDA and the national organic food labels, while the European organic label scored lower. Finally, response to food labels was found to differ between aware and unaware respondents.     

Financial services spillover effects on informal economic activity: evidence from a panel of 20 European countries

ABSTRACT

This study aims to investigate the spillover effects of the financial services sector development on the size of informal economic activity in the case of the European Union (EU) countries. The results from panel data analysis show that there exists an inverted U-shaped relationship between financial services and informal economic activity in the EU; that is, at the initial levels of the financial development, the reaction of informal economic activity is positive while it becomes negative at the further stages of the financial development in the EU. Thus, this study finds that financial services sector is a major contributor to changes in the volume of informal economic activity in the EU countries.     

Systemic risk in global volatility spillover networks: Evidence from option-implied volatility indices

With option-implied volatility indices, we identify networks of global volatility spillovers and examine time-varying systemic risk across global financial markets. The U.S. stock market is the center of the network and plays a dominant role in the spread of volatility spillover to other markets. The global systemic risks have intensified since the Federal Reserve exited from quantitative easing, hiked interest rate, and shrank its balance sheet. We further show that the U.S. monetary tightening is an important catalyst for the intensifying global systemic risk. Our findings highlight the pernicious effects of monetary tightening after an era of cheap money.     

Private labels versus national brands: The effects of branding on sensory perceptions and purchase intentions

Consumers increasingly consider private labels to be as good as national brands. This research raises the question of whether national brands and private labels equally affect consumers’ sensory perceptions and purchase intentions. The results of two studies show that consumers reverse their evaluation of private labels (vs. national brands) when tasting the product in an informed (vs. blind) condition. When consumers are not aware of brand names, they indicate better taste and higher purchase intentions for private labels. However, the opposite is true when they try products in an informed condition. We discuss the implications for private labels and national brands.     

Consumer understanding of food labels: toward a generic tool for identifying the average consumer

The ‘average consumer’ is referred to as a standard in regulatory contexts when attempts are made to benchmark how consumers are expected to reason while decoding food labels. An attempt is made to operationalize this hypothetical ‘average consumer’ by proposing a tool for measuring the level of informedness of an individual consumer against the national median at any time. Informedness, i.e. the individual consumer's ability to interpret correctly the meaning of the words and signs on a food label is isolated as one essential dimension for dividing consumers into three groups: less-informed, informed, and highly informed consumers. Consumer informedness is assessed using a 60-question test related to information found on a variety of Danish everyday food products and divided into factual questions and informedness about signpost labels. A test was made with 407 respondents who participated in four independent studies on fairness in consumer communication, and the average score for all was 57.6% of correct answers. A score of 64% and beyond would place a consumer in the upper quartile (the group of highly informed consumers), whereas a score of 52% or below would place the individual in the lower quartile (the group of less-informed consumers). Female respondents performed better than males on label recognition, and those around 40 years of age irrespective of gender performed best on factual knowledge, whereas those aged around 30 performed best on label recognition. It is foreseen that independent future studies of consumer behavior and decision making in relation to food products in different contexts could benefit from this type of benchmarking tool.     

Taking private labels upmarket: Empirical generalizations on category drivers of premium private label introductions

Premium private labels (PLs) are considered one of the hottest trends in grocery retailing. Still, retailers do not feel the need to introduce premium PLs in every category. Generalizing across approximately 150 categories for six retailers from two countries that already carry premium PLs for several years, the authors find that retailers are more likely to introduce premium PLs in categories with a higher industry PL share, and with a more proliferated assortment in terms of standard PLs. However, retailers are also aware of the risk of creating PL fatigue at high levels of standard PL proliferation. Further, premium PLs are more likely to be introduced in categories with more frequent price promotions, a longer interpurchase time, a higher need for variety, and higher functional, but lower social, risk. In addition, retailers consider category growth and the prevailing practice of their country's premium-PL pioneer when deciding in which categories to also introduce a premium PL. Finally, when NBs spend a smaller amount on advertising and NB proliferation is moderate, premium PL introductions are more likely. Importantly, while some of the earlier empirical generalizations on factors conducive to a standard PL entry still hold for a premium PL entry, new variables need to be considered as well, while other insights need to be updated to better reflect the new reality of higher-quality/higher-price premium PL introductions.     

Improving volatility prediction and option valuation using VIX information: A volatility spillover GARCH model

We develop a new generalized autoregressive conditional heteroskedasticity (GARCH) model that accounts for the information spillover between two markets. This model is used to detect the usefulness of the CBOE volatility index (VIX) for improving the performance of volatility forecasting and option pricing. We find the significant ability of VIX to predict stock volatility both in-sample and out-of-sample. VIX information also helps to greatly reduce the option pricing error. The proposed volatility spillover GARCH model performs better than the related approaches proposed by Kanniainen et al. (2014, J Bank Finance, 43, pp. 200-211) and P. Christoffersen et al. (2014, J Financ Quant Anal, 49, pp. 663–697).     

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).     

Effects of intra-brand competition between private labels and manufacturer brands: Empirical results from the Italian market

A proliferation of private labels in European food retailing has been evident for several years now. The purpose of this study is to analyze the impact of competition between manufacturer brands and private labels on assortment and pricing practices by Italian grocery retailers. Previous studies emphasized both pro-competitive and anti-competitive effects of private label development. In this study, within an empirical analysis based on scanner data from Symphony IRI Group, all fast moving consumer goods product categories are investigated over a period of two years (from September 2008 to September 2010). The empirical results indicate that in Italy there is no clear and strong evidence of decreases in manufacturer brands' assortments, prices, and turnover caused by a proliferation of private labels. In particular, analyzing at the same time all categories and all retailers' data in the Italian Market there is not much evidence for the existence of a strategic trade-off between manufacturer's and retailer's brands.