Status Consumption: Both an Antecedent and a Moderator of Private Label Brand Proneness

Status consumption has received little attention from scholars of private label research, and the results of the few existing studies were inconclusive about its influence on private label brand proneness. The aim of this research is to explore how status consumption is involved in the decision process to buy private label brands. An integrated model was constructed and empirically tested in a survey of 603 consumers. The findings show that although the impact of status consumption on private label proneness is not significant, but rather positive and small, it has a negative influence on quality perception and a positive influence on familiarity. The findings also revealed the interesting moderator function of status consumption on the relation between quality perception and buying proneness.