GENERIC AND MANUFACTURERS' BRAND GROCERY PRODUCTS: THE ISSUE OF QUALITY*

This paper reports the results of an investigation of taste perceptions and preferences for three generic and three manufacturers' brand grocery products: dry roasted peanuts, apple sauce and powdered orange drink mix. Blind taste tests of a generic and of a manufacturer's brand in each of these product categories were conducted. Respondents evaluated each item in terms of several physical attributes associated with each of the products. In addition, measures of the perceived similarity and of the preference for the items within each of the three product categories were collected. A multi-attribute model was employed to predict respondent's preferences, and the predictive accuracy was found to be quite high. Implications of the findings for consumers and home economists are discussed.