Price–Quality and Market Share of Consumer Goods in Spain: Retail Brands and Manufacturer Brands1

The development of retail brands has been favoured by the creation of large chains and by the high level of business concentration in the retail sector. It has been supported by an increasing number of consumers who are aware of value and consider that retail brand is the best alternative, with quality levels similar to those of leading manufacturer brands but with lower prices. In this survey, we analyse the price differentials between manufacturer brands and retail brands in several categories of widely consumed products. We study the relationship between the price differential and the mean category price with the market share of retail brands, for foodstuff, perfumes and cleaning materials categories. Finally, we determine the possible connection between the price of a consumer good brand and its real quality.     

Brand Networks as the Interplay of Identities,Selves, and Turtles: Commentary on “Interplay between intended brand identity and identities in a Nike related brand community: Co-existing synergies and tensions in a nested system”

This commentary emphasizes the networked nature of brands. Brands are identities, and identities are meanings. Meanings are always embedded in networks of association. Therefore, all understandings of brands are necessarily vast, complex, and incomplete, especially in the contemporary age of branding.