Mbaye Fall Diallo, Jean‐Louis Chandon, Gérard Cliquet and Jean Philippe
This paper aims to investigate how consumer and image factors as well as store familiarity influence store brand (SB) purchase behaviour. SBs are now widely offered by European…
Abstract
Purpose
This paper aims to investigate how consumer and image factors as well as store familiarity influence store brand (SB) purchase behaviour. SBs are now widely offered by European mass retailers. However, consumer behaviour toward SBs is not yet clearly understood in all European markets.
Design/methodology/approach
The authors analysed data collected from 266 respondents and used structural equation modelling to test the main hypotheses. They then carried out ANOVA and MANOVA analyses to test the effect of store familiarity on SB purchase behaviour.
Findings
Results indicate that store image perceptions, SB price‐image, value consciousness, and SB attitude have significant and positive influence on SB purchase behaviour. Store familiarity positively influences SB choice, but not SB purchase intention. None of the socio‐demographic variables (age, gender, household income, and family size) included as control variables have an effect on SB choice.
Research limitations/implications
The study is limited because it did not account for the effect of product categories on SB purchase behaviour. Consequently, results cannot be determined for different product categories. It would also be appropriate to measure SB choice in a more concrete way, such as using scanner data.
Practical implications
Findings highlight the importance of value consciousness, store image perceptions, and SB price‐image on SB purchase behaviour. They also show greater popularity of SB products among consumers, including those with high household income.
Originality/value
There is increased value to retailers in studying how consumer and image factors jointly influence SB purchase behaviour, whilst also accounting for store familiarity instead of brand familiarity.
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Mbaye Fall Diallo, Steve Burt and Leigh Sparks
The purpose of this paper is to investigate the role of image and consumer factors in influencing store brand (SB) choice between two retail chains (Carrefour and Extra) in a…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to investigate the role of image and consumer factors in influencing store brand (SB) choice between two retail chains (Carrefour and Extra) in a Latin American market, Brazil. SBs are increasingly offered by retailers in emerging markets. What is less clear, however, is how emerging market consumers make their choices between the SBs on offer from different retail chains.
Design/methodology/approach
A mall-intercept survey conducted by a Brazilian market research company generated 600 usable questionnaires collected in two retail chains. Structural equation modelling was used to test a series of proposed hypotheses.
Findings
The results revealed that SB attitude, SB price-image, store image perceptions, SB perceived value and SB purchase intention have significant and positive direct or indirect effects on SB choice overall, and for each retail chain. However, for price-related constructs, the relationships are stronger for the Extra chain compared to the Carrefour chain. Results show that the Brazilian market presents some departures from both developed and other emerging countries.
Research limitations/implications
Respondents were consumers in only one Latin American market (Brazil) and shoppers of only two retail chains. Caution should therefore be exercised when generalising the results to other markets in Latin America.
Practical implications
Understanding which factors influence consumer choice of SBs in an emerging market while taking into account the presence of different operators allows retailers to launch new SB programs and implement the appropriate strategies to increase SB sales in this market.
Originality/value
The main contribution of this research lies in clarifying consumer behaviour towards SBs in an emerging Latin American market. It fills a major gap in the marketing literature and research in stressing the need to rethink the application of conventional business models to Latin America.
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Although they are increasingly offered by mass retailers in Asia, store brands (SBs) are not well understood in Asian countries. The purpose of this paper is to investigate how…
Abstract
Purpose
Although they are increasingly offered by mass retailers in Asia, store brands (SBs) are not well understood in Asian countries. The purpose of this paper is to investigate how store and brand-level factors affect consumer usage of SBs in an Asian emerging country.
Design/methodology/approach
A consumer survey, based on sample of 445 respondents, is undertaken in two competing modern retail chains in Vietnam. Structural equation modelling is used to test the research hypotheses. A latent interaction variable was created to test the moderation of store familiarity.
Findings
Results indicate that SB price image, consumer attitude towards SBs and SB perceived value influence most strongly SB usage in Vietnam, whereas store image perceptions have no direct effect on it. Some investigated relationships differ across store formats. Overall, store familiarity has a weak direct effect on SB usage, but its interaction effects differ depending on store format.
Research limitations/implications
The study is limited because it investigated only one Asian country and two retail chains. Besides, it did not account for effect of product categories on SB usage.
Practical implications
Findings indicate that a positive store image is not sufficient to increase consumer usage of SBs in Vietnam. Retailers should be especially careful when designing retail outlets in this market, where consumers seem attached to traditions. Results highlight the importance of taking measures to develop more positive attitudes towards SBs. Also, store familiarity has a weak effect on SB purchase and should therefore be monitored more carefully by retail chains operating in Vietnam.
Originality/value
This research is the first to address Vietnamese consumer usage of SBs. In contrast to their counterparts in other emerging countries, Vietnamese consumers do not strongly rely on store image when purchasing SBs. Their focus is rather on brand perceived value. These results challenge conventional wisdom that attributes a low utilitarian value orientation to Asian consumers.
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The objective of this study is to investigate how country risk, different political actions from the government and bureaucratic behavior influence the activities in industry…
Abstract
The objective of this study is to investigate how country risk, different political actions from the government and bureaucratic behavior influence the activities in industry supply chains (SCs) in emerging markets. The main objective of this study is to investigate the influence of these external stakeholders’ elements to the demand-side and supply-side drivers and barriers for improving competitiveness of Ready-Made Garment (RMG) industry in the way of analyzing supply chain. Considering the phenomenon of recent change in the RMG business environment and the competitiveness issues this study uses the principles of stakeholder and resource dependence theory and aims to find out some factors which influence to make an efficient supply chain for improving competitiveness. The RMG industry of Bangladesh is the case application of this study. Following a positivist paradigm, this study adopts a two phase sequential mixed-method research design consisting of qualitative and quantitative approaches. A tentative research model is developed first based on extensive literature review. Qualitative field study is then carried out to fine tune the initial research model. Findings from the qualitative method are also used to develop measures and instruments for the next phase of quantitative method. A survey is carried out with sample of top and middle level executives of different garment companies of Dhaka city in Bangladesh and the collected quantitative data are analyzed by partial least square-based structural equation modeling. The findings support eight hypotheses. From the analysis the external stakeholders’ elements like bureaucratic behavior and country risk have significant influence to the barriers. From the internal stakeholders’ point of view the manufacturers’ and buyers’ drivers have significant influence on the competitiveness. Therefore, stakeholders need to take proper action to reduce the barriers and increase the drivers, as the drivers have positive influence to improve competitiveness.
This study has both theoretical and practical contributions. This study represents an important contribution to the theory by integrating two theoretical perceptions to identify factors of the RMG industry’s SC that affect the competitiveness of the RMG industry. This research study contributes to the understanding of both external and internal stakeholders of national and international perspectives in the RMG (textile and clothing) business. It combines the insights of stakeholder and resource dependence theories along with the concept of the SC in improving effectiveness. In a practical sense, this study certainly contributes to the Bangladeshi RMG industry. In accordance with the desire of the RMG manufacturers, the research has shown that some influential constructs of the RMG industry’s SC affect the competitiveness of the RMG industry. The outcome of the study is useful for various stakeholders of the Bangladeshi RMG industry sector ranging from the government to various private organizations. The applications of this study are extendable through further adaptation in other industries and various geographic contexts.
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Florence Kremer and Catherine Viot
The purpose of this research is to highlight the role store brands can play in retail branding. Does an image transfer take place between store brands and the retailer brand? To…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this research is to highlight the role store brands can play in retail branding. Does an image transfer take place between store brands and the retailer brand? To address this issue, the authors propose to identify and test the dimensions of image transfer from the store brand to the retailer brand.
Design/methodology/approach
A qualitative study of 138 consumers helped to complete the attributes of store brand image and retailer brand image identified in the literature. A total of 322 customers of three major French retailers responded to a questionnaire. The data collected were tested in a structural equation model.
Findings
Results indicate that store brands have a positive impact on the retailer image. The price image of the store brand is positively related to the retailer price image. The values that customers associated with store brands improve the retailer brand image in terms of its values.
Research limitations/implications
Store brands are considered as a whole, without distinction between product categories. The paper focuses on standard store brands only, excluding “premium” store brands.
Practical implications
Retailers can find a rationale for investing in their store brand range in order to differentiate themselves from their competitors. Managers should ensure that their store brands' image is seen as congruent with their own retailer brand image. In particular, more attention should be paid to the values reflected by the store brands and the store brands' price image.
Originality/value
The results indicate that store brands not only benefit from the strength of the retailer brand, but they also contribute, in a reciprocal way, to the improvement of the retailer image.
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Mbaye Fall Diallo and Jose Ribamar Siqueira Jr
Brand experience is a key factor that helps elucidate why consumers choose a given brand among others. The purpose this paper is to investigate how previous experience with store…
Abstract
Purpose
Brand experience is a key factor that helps elucidate why consumers choose a given brand among others. The purpose this paper is to investigate how previous experience with store brands affects store brand purchase intention in two emerging markets and whether the cultural context moderates the relationships between store brand positive or negative cues and store brand purchase intention.
Design/methodology/approach
A store-intercept survey undertaken in the Latin American context generated 769 usable responses from consumers of two metropolitan cities (Brasilia and Bogota), respectively, in Brazil and Colombia. The questionnaires were collected in four well-established retail chains by professional investigators. Structural equation modelling was used to test a series of proposed hypotheses.
Findings
Overall, this paper reveals that consumers in Latin America do care about brand experience when shopping. More specifically, the results indicate that previous positive experience with store brands has a positive effect on consumer purchase intention in both countries investigated. In Brazil, store brand price perceptions mediate rather strongly the relationship between previous experience with store brands and purchase intention. In contrast, this effect is weak in Colombia. Store brand perceived risk has significant mediation effects in Brazil, but no mediation effects in Colombia. The authors also underline heterogeneous moderation effects of the cultural context, suggesting that common perceptions of Latin America as a culturally homogeneous region are stereotypical.
Research limitations/implications
Respondents were consumers of only two Latin American emerging countries (Brazil and Colombia) and shoppers of two retail chains in each country. Caution should therefore be exercised when generalising the results to other emerging markets.
Practical implications
The paper offers recommendations on how to standardise/adapt brand experience management in different Latin American markets. Overall, retailers should go beyond the transaction itself and establish true differentiation using different store brand ranges. However, due to differences in cultural contexts, marketing communication should adopt different approaches to each country: emphasise the price advantages of store brands in Brazil, but focus on other factors such as quality in Colombia. Because they are culturally bound, risk perceptions towards store brands should also be managed carefully. It would be possible to target premium consumer segments with standard store brands in Colombia while a more sophisticated approach is necessary in Brazil (e.g. co-branding or launching more premium store brands).
Originality/value
By employing three theoretical frameworks (learning theory, cue utilisation theory and culture theory), this research investigates the effect of previous experience with store brands on purchase intention in two emerging countries that are geographically close but culturally different. It highlights direct and indirect processes of brand experience and underlines significant structural path differences between the two Latin American countries investigated in terms of consumption behaviour towards store brands.
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Maciel Prediger, Ruben Huertas-Garcia and Juan Carlos Gázquez-Abad
The purpose of this paper is to investigate the relationship between several aspects of store flyers design (presence of a institutional slogan, type of product (national brand…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to investigate the relationship between several aspects of store flyers design (presence of a institutional slogan, type of product (national brand (NB) or store brand (SB)) featured on the cover page, the size of the flyer, number of featured NBs, type of brand (NB vs SB) on promotion, and price difference between the most expensive (NB) and the cheapest SB) and the consumer’s perceived variety of the retailer’s assortment, as a dimension of its global image.
Design/methodology/approach
A mixed laboratory experiment that combined a between-subjects experimental design and inter-subject conjoint analysis was conducted. A fictitious flyer from a fictitious supermarket was created that included both real NBs and fictitious SBs. In total, 12 scenarios (i.e. flyers) were tested using a sample of 406 participants.
Findings
Analysis suggests that longer flyers have the greatest influence on consumers’ perceived variety of a retailer’s assortment; a greater number of NBs in a category influenced consumers’ perceptions positively, and featuring SBs on the cover enhanced perceived variety. If a retailer features SBs on a flyer’s cover, longer flyers are recommended, and shorter flyers are recommended if NBs are featured on the cover. A retailer should promote its own brand only if the most expensive NBs are featured with SBs.
Research limitations/implications
This study analyses a single aspect of consumers’ purchasing behaviors – variety of a retailer’s assortment. Future research should examine other variables related to consumers’ purchasing behaviors. This study uses an online context to test hypotheses, but many aspects of flyer design are physical. Future research should test current findings in offline contexts to compare results. Research should also explore moderation by consumer variables such as brand and store loyalty.
Practical implications
To researchers, the authors offer improved understanding of how a flyer’s design affects the first stage of purchasing. To practitioners, results offer better understanding of positive returns on investment of store flyers, and to retailers, results offer a guide to creating and organizing flyers.
Originality/value
This study is first to assess how a flyer’s design influences a dimension of store image. Unlike extant research that examines store flyers using econometric models at the aggregate level, this study uses a laboratory experiment that combines a between-subjects design with conjoint analysis.
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Florence Charton-Vachet, Didier Louis and Cindy Lombart
The objective of this exploratory study was to investigate the communication themes that retailers should prioritise to convey terroir store brands’ (TSBs) authenticity and the…
Abstract
Purpose
The objective of this exploratory study was to investigate the communication themes that retailers should prioritise to convey terroir store brands’ (TSBs) authenticity and the impact of their authenticity on several variables (i.e. value, attitude, trust, intentions and effective purchases). TSBs combine a variety of products that adhere to stringent standards associated with a terroir. Charters et al. (2017) referred to a terroir as “a resource based on unique physical origins and shared cultural personification that shape a product’s benefits into a meaningful value proposition” (p. 755). Three communication themes were studied: the ingredients’ origin, traditional local recipes and the producer’s history in a region (terroir).
Design/methodology/approach
An experiment was conducted in a store laboratory. A total of 420 consumers representative of the French population were randomly assigned to four independent groups in a between-subjects study design. They shopped in the store laboratory with a section dedicated to a TSB. Each of the independent samples in this experiment was exposed to posters in the store laboratory related to the three communication themes studied. The control group did not see any posters.
Findings
The study showed that the level of TSB authenticity was highest for the communication theme related to the traditional local recipes of the culinary dishes offered by the TSB. Next came the theme related to the ingredients’ origin, followed by the producer’s history in the terroir. Moreover, for the communication theme related to the traditional local recipes, TSB authenticity had a direct impact on value, trust and intentions. Moreover, the link between intentions and effective purchases of TSB products has only been established for this specific communication theme.
Originality/value
First, this study adds to the limited research on TSBs’ authenticity and identifies the communication themes retailers should use to promote such brands. It also proposes an integrative model of the consequences of TSBs’ authenticity in the retailing field that highlights the direct and indirect links (through value, attitude, trust and intentions) between authenticity and consumers’ effective purchases. Finally, it indicates the kind of discourse on TSBs that conveys their authenticity.
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Riham Hassan Younis and Aiesha Elmeniawy
This research aims to offer and empirically examine a research model that includes extrinsic cues, attitudes and purchasing intentions for non-private-label (PL) buyers from a…
Abstract
Purpose
This research aims to offer and empirically examine a research model that includes extrinsic cues, attitudes and purchasing intentions for non-private-label (PL) buyers from a developing economy perspective. It also seeks to test the moderating role of neophobia along with gender.
Design/methodology/approach
Data were received from 640 non-PL buyers via a cross-sectional online questionnaire. The study utilised structural equation modelling to examine the relationships among the study constructs.
Findings
Extrinsic cues, particularly perceived price and store image, along with attitudes, impact the intention to buy PLs. Furthermore, the moderating role of neophobia was supported.
Research limitations/implications
This study is limited to the Egyptian retail sector, so its findings reflect the degree of development of PLs in Egypt. Practical implications should be adopted for contexts with identical development levels.
Practical implications
Retail managers should focus on pricing promotions and enhancing their store image to appeal to non-PL shoppers. They should also consolidate their efforts to counteract neophobic tendencies among non-PL shoppers by maximising exposure to PLs and encouraging their trials.
Originality/value
This research offers empirical evidence of the role of neophobia, further enriching our understanding of Middle Eastern consumer behaviour and supporting the implications of extrinsic cues on PL purchase intention for non-PL buyers in developing economies. It supplements earlier research, which mainly focused on developed economies.
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Mbaye Fall Diallo and Gérard Cliquet
International retailers operating in different emerging countries should figure out how their store image is perceived across these countries and whether they should adapt or…
Abstract
Purpose
International retailers operating in different emerging countries should figure out how their store image is perceived across these countries and whether they should adapt or standardise the retail offer. The purpose of this paper is to investigate how store image is perceived across different emerging markets and how it relates to customer knowledge cues and personal characteristics.
Design/methodology/approach
A store-intercept survey undertaken in Brazil and Vietnam generated 505 usable responses from customers of two metropolitan cities (Brasilia and Hanoi), respectively, in Brazil and Vietnam. The questionnaires were collected in Extra (Brazil) and Big C (Vietnam) retail chains belonging both to the same group (Casino, France).
Findings
Overall, this paper reveals that emerging market customers assess positively modern retail stores and are concerned about services, merchandise, and store layout when shopping. More specifically, the results indicate differences and similarities between Brazilian and Vietnamese customers in terms of store image attributes, store image dimensions, and overall store image. Moreover, customer knowledge of retailers affects store image perceptions at different levels in both countries. Also, significant differences arise across age, gender, and education in both countries, but not across household income categories.
Research limitations/implications
Respondents were customers of only two emerging markets (Brazil and Vietnam) and shoppers of two retail chains (Extra and Big C). Caution should therefore be exercised when generalising the results to other emerging markets.
Practical implications
The paper shows both differences and similarities in store image perceptions in different emerging countries. Because store layout is more positively rated in Brazil than in Vietnam, retailers should be careful to that attribute. In both countries, to improve assortment perceptions, managers might focus on first price (budget) store brands, which can help diversify the assortment and attract less wealthy customers. The service dimension also demands careful management, but personnel training should mirror the local culture.
Originality/value
This research highlights differences and similarities between Brazilian and Vietnamese customers in terms of store image perceptions. It shows that store image mechanisms are similar in emerging countries as in developed countries. Furthermore, the paper is the first to relate store image perceptions to customer knowledge cues in emerging countries.