Advances in National Brand and Private Label Marketing

Much of the extant empirical work on consumers’ grocery purchases employ models that are estimated on household scanner panel data. A known limitation of these models is that households may have multiple decision makers, and a decision maker may have brand preferences and marketing mix sensitivities that are distinct from other decision makers in the household. We seek to study whether models using individual customer data provide substantially different insights and managerial implications relative to models that use household data. This important issue has not been addressed in the literature, possibly due to limitations of scanner panel data. Using a unique data set that identifies choices made by individual customers within a household, we estimate multinomial choice models at the household level with and without incorporating intra-household heterogeneity using Markov Chain Monte Carlo (MCMC) procedures. We incorporate controls for unobserved heterogeneity by estimating random coefficients models which allows the brand preferences and the price sensitivity parameters to vary across households. We find that in each product category the estimates obtained at the customer level are significantly different from those obtained at the household level. Our findings imply that targeting promotions based on customer level estimates will result in outcomes that are significantly more profitable relative to targeting based on household level estimates.

This study aims to identify the determinants of purchasing private label brands (PLBs) by non-buyers and occasional buyers. This study aims to identify levers that may raise the purchasing rate of non and occasional Private Label Brands (PLBs) buyers.

We conducted online quantitative research with 151 customers from a panel attending one of the French retail chains. In addition, we used PLS-SEM to test the research model. The findings show that attitude toward PLBs plays a central role in converting non and occasional PLBs buyers into more regular buyers. Furthermore, theoretical contributions and managerial implications are developed.

Consumers increasingly demand that brands take public stance on controversial and polarized issues. Assuming the perspective of marketing practitioners, brand activism is considered a relevant strategy to satisfy a request of this type. In the branding literature, activism has been prevalently investigated with regards to national brands (NBs). This research explores the world of private label (PL) brands. Particularly, it raises questions on whether consumers’ perception of PL brand equity could benefit from retailer activism. To this end, an explorative experiment is conducted. The experiment evaluates the presence (vs. absence) of activism attributes in three contexts: NB vs. premium PL brands vs. economy PL brands. These findings suggest that in the “activism attributes: present” condition participants indicated higher perceived brand equity for the premium PL brand. In the “activism attributes: absent” condition NBs were evaluated higher.

This paper identifies private label prone segments that emerge based on implicit and explicit private label/manufacturer brand attitudes and brand preference. We describe these segments, measure the smart-shopper self-perception and value consciousness associated with segment membership, and quantify how these segments differ in their private label purchase intentions. We apply K-means cluster analysis to a database of 798 respondents in five emerging markets in the beauty care product category. Three consumer segments were identified and labeled as “Mindful”, “Indifferent” and “Skeptical”. Demographic characteristics of the three segments were also observed. Results indicate the highest potential of the “Mindful” segment for the retailers managing private labels, which also represent the largest cluster in the sample.

Grounded in Transformative Service Research (TSR), this study aims to examine the mechanism by which blockchain-enabled banking determines customers perceived financial well-being (FW). We conclude that blockchain features augment information transparency, which in turn determines customers perceived financial well-being. Data was collected through a survey filled by 283 individuals having bank accounts. The contextual setting of the study was provided by commercial banks operating in Pakistan. The primary data was analyzed through PLS-SEM to explore the direct and indirect relationships among blockchain features (efficiency, security, and regulatory compliance), perceived information transparency, and perceived financial well-being. The evidence points to the fact that: (1) Blockchain features are significant in determining customers’ financial well-being; (2) Information transparency mediates the relationship between these features and customers perceived financial well-being; hence, that (3) Bank managers who embrace the challenging task of improving the perceived financial well-being of their customers, should adopt blockchain technology to enhance information transparency, and accordingly to augment the customers’ financial well-being.

As retail media networks continue to grow and the data exchanges between consumers and retailers are becoming more prevalent and complex, it becomes necessary to define and describe how retailers are managing their consumer data. We attempt to describe retailers’ walled gardens and how retailers are keeping these data exchanges secure.

When designing a loyalty program, a major decision is that of identifying which rewards and of which nature (monetary vs. non-monetary) to offer. Customers do not evenly react to the same rewards, a fact that draws retailers to identifying segments that share a common preference. The present study adopts a generational segmentation approach to identify differences in generational cohorts according to their attitude towards loyalty programs as well towards rewards offered within these programs, in the supermarket industry. Data were collected through a panel survey on 1,162 Italian consumers. Significant differences are found with reference to enrollment in a loyalty program and reasons not to enroll, and to preference for rewards. Implications for retailers and for future research are drawn.

This study explores consumers’ perceived risk of the combination of the main product (tangible product/intangible service) and gift (free product/service upgrade). Metaling accounting theory is applied as a moderator between product-free gift combinations and perceived risk. The experimental design method is adopted to create four different situations to collect data, and a total of 152 valid samples are collected. Analysis of variance (ANOVA) was used for data analysis and hypothesis testing. The results show that product categories significantly differ in consumers’ perceived risk. The perceived risk of purchasing tangible products is less than the perceived risk of purchasing intangible services. Moreover, customers perceived the lowest risk while purchasing the combination of tangible products with free-gift; and the highest risk while purchasing the combination of intangible services with service upgrades. The moderating effect, consumers see the target product and gift in one or two accounts is not significant in this research. Relevant marketing suggestions from this research are provided.

Consumers are increasingly joining social networking sites (SNS) where they build online relationships with friends and brands they engage with. While SNS related studies are growing, the Middle East region still lacks a proper understanding relating to SNS effects on customer retention within a service environment. This study aims to develop the understanding pertaining to SNS relational factors and the ensuing consequence of such bonding on the social platform’s advertising value, consumers’ proneness in comparing insurance premiums and the effect on retention. An internet-based survey was filled by 297 respondents on Facebook, targeting individuals who already use an insurance company’s services. The model measured the overall experience on Facebook while integrating socialization with friends, relationship with the social network itself, SNS ad value, premium comparison, and retention and customer service. This study is amongst the first to examine the effects of relational aspects, from a peer-to-peer and peer-to-SNS perspectives, on the social ad value and the ensuing influence on price comparison propensity and the effects on customer retention in the region.

Recent years have witnessed a phenomenal change in the quantity and pattern of consumption, frugality has often been associated with resource-saving behavior that contributes to sustainable consumption. Thus, this study investigates consumer frugality and its relationship with brand attitude and purchase intention for green foodservice in an emerging market. A sample of 327 customers was taken from an icon ecological coffee shop in Ecuador. The positive effect on the relationship between frugality and green purchase intention and the mediating role of brand attitude in this relationship were empirically demonstrated. The results suggest that green marketing strategies in emerging markets should consider consumer beliefs and values as they have an impact on purchase intention. Furthermore, the importance of brand attitude in guiding sustainable behavioral intention.

This study highlights the relationship between brand personality (BP) and customer-based brand equity (CBBE) regarding brand commitment and preference by examining the mediating role of self-image congruence and perceived product quality in the beer market. Thus, we make some significant contributions to the existing literature on BP by applying the BP concept to beer brands and by including the mediating role of self-image congruence, which has been limitedly addressed in previous studies. Further, the impact of BP is contrasted with perceived product quality, which offers brand managers insight into what kind of associations they must pursue. Data were collected from 322 student legal-age beer drinkers (age = 21.3, SD = 1.5, Female = 45%), who evaluated 2 out of 4 leading Belgian national beer brands, yielding 644 brand observations. Our PLS path model results show that the impact of BP factors on brand equity in the beer market is fully mediated by self-image congruence and perceived product quality. Both self-image congruence and perceived product quality significantly affect brand equity. The BP dimension activity reveals the most substantial total effect, given its impact on self-image congruence and perceived product quality. Also, the BP factor responsibility influences brand equity. The message is clear. For a national beer brand to stay relevant amongst young adults, it must convey a dynamic, active, and innovative BP while paying attention to its perceived quality. Other potential routes are to communicate facets of responsibility.

The sustainable development of the economy has become a priority at the international level and brands and consumers cannot remain oblivious to this paradigm shift. This subject has been gaining relevance among the scientific community, hence the importance of its study and the need to have an updated record of the work carried out at an academic level. Consequently, the aim of this paper is to perform a bibliometric analysis of publications on sustainable brands and sustainability retail to know the current state of scientific production. To this end, 3,228 research papers published between 1995 and 2022 have been analyzed, based on the results of the Web of Science Core Collection (WoS), identifying publications and co-authorships among the best-known authors, as well as the countries with the highest production of articles, citations, the most prominent academic institutions, the most influential journals, and the co-occurrence of keywords. The results obtained show that there is a high scientific production, which is expected to continue increasing. In addition, future lines of research contemplate the study of other factors such as the supply chain, as well as consumer satisfaction and the development of other lines of research regarding more sustainable consumption in the long term.

Online Grocery Shopping (OGS) is a relatively new sales channel for retailers and manufacturers that is changing retailing considerably. Despite this, little is known about whether or how consumers’ behavior changes when they start using OGS. We fill this research gap by measuring the share of national brands (NBs) of 173 households before and after starting OGS. Based on the literature, we derive the hypothesis that the share of NBs increases when households start using OGS, while the share of private labels (PL) consequently decreases. We use the difference-in-differences (DiD) method for our empirical analysis and test our hypothesis using extensive GfK household panel data. Our results show that the share of NBs increases significantly when a household commences OGS. Consequently, the market share of PLs decreases with start using OGS. These results help retailers and manufacturers to better understand how OGS can change consumer behavior. For manufacturers, this is a positive signal as it seems to strengthen the share of their NBs. For retailers, this is a sign of the relevance of NBs of online grocery shoppers.

Golf clubs face the challenge of maximising revenue without losing the trust of their members. Reservation management as a tool to increase revenue is hampered by difficulties in getting members to book online. The aim of this research is to explore the profile of the golf club members to identify the barriers to online booking, their implications for revenue management and the role of relationship marketing. Six in-depth interviews were conducted with golf club managers in Andalusia (Spain). The results show that the barriers to online booking are closely related to the customer profile of the golf club members. A relevant implication of the study is the importance of staff in the relationship with members and relational marketing as an effective marketing tool with this customer.

The objective of this study is to analyze the use of social media by luxury hotels, focusing on identifying the reactions of consumers toward the experiential messages issued by this type of hospitality firm. This research emphasizes how the crisis caused by the coronavirus pandemic affected potential guests’ online engagement behavior. An exploratory observation of the official social media accounts of 36 premium hotels in the Canary Islands allows for extracting digital content from 1070 Facebook posts published in 2019 and 624 posted in 2020. Based on descriptive analysis, engagement indexes are built on quantifiable elements of participation (i.e.: likes, shares, and comments). The key implication of this research is that luxury hotels have considerable scope to improve their communications on social media, especially regarding the design and diffusion of messages that include affective components.

The elderly is an important segment for the business industry. More elderly now shops online than ever before. There is scant previous research that explores this group according to subgroupings of age, and the published studies typically included a limited range of products and services. This research aims to close this gap by segregating respondents into three groups according to age: 55–64, 65–74 and 75+ years. Furthermore, a second aim is to find the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic on Web activities for these subgroups. The data was based on two surveys of the same 328 identified respondents, before and during the pandemic. The results show that on-line shopping diminished mainly in the oldest age group, about 70–75 years, but remained the same in regard to on-line banking activities. Surprisingly, during the pandemic, there was a reduction of on-line shopping, chiefly among the youngest group. However, the elderly increased their on-line activity in one area: shopping for food. Notably, the pandemic produced weaker effects on on-line shopping in the oldest group.