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abstract: Private labels command a growing share of food retailers' shelf space. In this dissertation, I explain this phenomenon as resulting from "umbrella branding," or the ability of a single brand to reach across categories. Conceptually, I define umbrella branding as a behavioral attribute that describes a shopper's tendency to ascribe a performance bond to a brand, or to associate certain performance characteristics to a private label brand, across multiple categories. In the second chapter, I describe the performance bond theory in detail, and then test this theory using scanner data in the chapter that follows. Because secondary data has limitations for testing behavioral theories, however, I test the performance bond theory of umbrella branding using a laboratory experiment in the fourth chapter. In this chapter, I find that households tend to transfer their perception of private label performance across categories, or that a manifestation of umbrella branding behavior can indeed explain private labels' success. In the fifth chapter, I extend this theory to compare umbrella branding in international markets, and find that performance transference takes its roots in consumers' cultural backgrounds. Taken together, my results suggest that umbrella branding is an important behavioral mechanism, and one that can be further exploited by retailers across any consumer good category with strong credence attributes. / Dissertation/Thesis / Doctoral Dissertation Agribusiness 2014

Title: The changes on the Spanish consumer behaviour after the financial crisis 2007. Applied towards a switch to store branded products. Authors: Adrián Cánovas Rosales and Iranzu Ibáñez Pérez Supervisor: Venilton Reinert Level: Bachelor in Business Administration, Marketing Key words: Consumers’ behaviour, financial crisis, leader brands, store brands, Spain, Spanish retailers… Purpose: The main research objective is to find out if there has been a change in Spanish consumer buying behaviour as a consequence of the current economic downturn. Method: The selected research method is an explorative research followed by descriptive one. Secondary data has been collected from books at Halmstad University’s Library and academic journals and other articles founded in the University’s Databases. Primary data has been obtained through a survey among middle class Spanish households. The selected research instrument is a questionnaire. Theoretical framework: We firstly define the consumer behaviour. Then, there is an explanation of the economic crisis focusing on the Spanish case. Finally, stores brands are defined. Conclusion: A summary of the findings obtained from our study are posted. Middle class Spanish households have reduced their consumption, becoming more rational and, consequently, switching to store brands. The limitations of the study as well as some suggestions for further researches are added in this section.

Pour s’imposer sur ce marché de consommation alimentaire fortement concurrentiel, les enseignes de la grande distribution se sont attelées au terroir et à ses produits. Aujourd’hui, les MDD de terroir, porteuses de différenciation, sont les seules à progresser confirmant l’intérêt croissant des consommateurs pour ce type de produit. Le terroir devient un enjeu à la fois en termes de pratique de consommation et de marché alimentaire. L’objectif de recherche est de montrer comment les MDD de terroir contribuent à construire la légitimité de l’enseigne de distribution lui permettant, d’une part, d’accéder aux meilleures ressources locales afin de disposer d’un avantage compétitif et, d’autre part, de créer des conditions nécessaires de conformité en réponse aux pressions de l’environnement qui brouillent et/ou menacent sa légitimité et le sens de ses actions. Pour répondre à la question de recherche le cadre théorique mobilise trois champs théoriques : les concepts image terroir et valeur de consommation, le marketing relationnel sur le comportement du consommateur expliqué notamment par la satisfaction et la confiance et la légitimité élément central de la sociologie néo-institutionnelle. La méthodologie mixte adoptée combine approches qualitative (20 interviews) et quantitative (631 répondants en deux enquêtes) et démontre l’effet positif significatif de l’interaction image terroir – valeur perçue de consommation de la MDD de terroir sur la légitimité territoriale perçue de l’enseigne. La légitimité territoriale perçue participe à la construction de la confiance et médiatise les effets de l’image de la MDD de terroir et de la valeur perçue sur la satisfaction, la confiance en la MDD et la confiance envers l’enseigne. / To impose themselves on the very competitive food consumption market, mass-marketing retailers have tackled the terroir and its regional food products. Today, store-brand regional products, which contribute to differentiation, are the only products whose market share continues to grow. This phenomenon reaffirms the consumers’ increasing interest for this type of products. Regional food products are becoming a new challenge not only in regards to consumption habits but also in regards to the food industry. The first goal of the research is to show how store-brand regional products contribute to building up the legitimacy of the brand by allowing it access to the best local/regional resources in order to obtain a competitive advantage. Its second goal is to create the necessary compliance requirements, in response to the pressure from the environment which confuses and/or threatens its legitimacy and the meaning of its actions. To answer the research question, the theoretical framework mobilizes three theoretical fields: terroir/regional image concepts and consumption value, as well as relationship marketing based on the consumer’s behavior and explained in particular by satisfaction, trust and the central legitimacy component of sociological institutionalism. The mixed methodology combines both a qualitative (20 interviews) and a quantitative approach (631 persons answered the two surveys). It also demonstrates the significant positive effect of the regional image interaction – how the store-brand regional consumption value and the territorial legitimacy of the brand are perceived. The territorial legitimacy contributes to building up confidence and gives media attention to the store-brand regional image and to the perceived value of the satisfaction and the confidence towards the brand.

M. Tech. (Marketing Management, Faculty of Management Sciences), Vaal University of Technology. / Supermarket store brands are affordable alternatives towards the customers’ intended brands. For many years, marketers and retailers of store brands have positioned this brand as a cheap or low-cost brand that could be afforded by most customers. This positioning has catapulted the popularity of store brands. However, on the downward side, most consumers associate cheap or low cost with low quality. The low-cost and low-quality association and perception has been a major impediment towards the real success of store brands. Store brands have long since moved from competing on price, to competing on quality. The shift of focus by marketers and retailers of store brands from price to quality puts store brands on an equal footing with national brands and, consequently, a fierce competitor. This study investigated the influence of consumer-based brand equity elements, namely brand awareness, brand association, brand loyalty and perceived quality on brand preference and purchase intention of store brands. This study restricted its scope to the food brands. Investigating store brands within a South African context is particularly important since store brands are produced and owned by local retailers as opposed to national brands. The literature suggests that store brands are more profitable to retailers compared to their counterparts and serve as a point of differentiation from one retailer to another. A quantitative research design was employed in this study and a non-probability convenience sampling technique was adopted. The target population comprised students from a tertiary institution within the Vaal triangle, namely Vaal University of Technology. A total of 400 questionnaires were distributed to the participants, of which 361 participated in the study. To ensure reliability of the scales, pre-testing and piloting of the questionnaire preceded the main survey. Results from correlation and regression analysis revealed that brand equity elements, namely brand awareness, brand association, brand loyalty and perceived quality explain 68.4 percent of the variance in brand preference. This result suggests that consumer-based brand equity elements significantly contribute towards building consumer brand preference towards the store brands. In addition, amongst all the variables, brand loyalty made the strongest contribution towards explaining brand preference (β= 0.342). Moreover, brand preference explains 65.3 percent of the variance in purchase intention. These results suggest that brand preference strongly contributes towards building purchase intention of store brands. Based on the results of this study, recommendations for retailers of store brands are provided as follows:  Retailers of store brands should implement greater awareness programmes for store brands and create positive word-of-mouth through superior product quality.  Retailers of store brands should strengthen store brands’ brand associations to improve the image of store brands.  Retailers of store brands should pay special attention to creating brand loyalty of store brands through implementing store brands’ loyalty programmes. Limitations, future research opportunities and contributions of this study are discussed in the study.

La question de l’assortiment des produits dans les magasins est devenue un enjeu stratégique majeur pour pénétrer les nouveaux marchés et fidéliser les clients. La forte progression des marques de distributeur (MDD) face aux marques nationales (MN) et l’internationalisation croissante des enseignes de distribution sont deux bouleversements qui ont particulièrement retenu l’attention des chercheurs et des praticiens ces dernières années.Dans ce contexte, la problématique centrale de cette thèse est de comprendre les facteurs explicatifs du comportement d’achat envers les produits MDD. Dans le cadre d’une posture épistémologique hypothético-déductive, nous adoptons une approche psycho-cognitive tout en prenant en compte les travaux issus de l’achat impulsif. Dans ce sens, une revue des travaux antérieurs combinée à une étude qualitative exploratoire multi-méthodes (étude documentaire, entretiens avec 24 consommateurs et entretiens 8 managers) a été effectuée au Brésil. Nous avons par la suite conçu un modèle conceptuel intégrateur des déterminants du choix de la MDD, formulé des hypothèses de recherche et effectué les tests de validation avec un échantillon de 600 consommateurs brésiliens. Les résultats ont permis de valider une nouvelle échelle de mesure bidimensionnelle de l’image prix perçue des MDD. Ils montrent aussi que les facteurs explicatifs du choix de la MDD sont multiples et de nature diverse (perception de la valeur des MDD, attitude générale envers les MDD, perception de l’image du magasin, image prix perçue des MDD, familiarité avec le magasin, etc.). Ils indiquent également que l’importance des relations structurelles du modèle varie en fonction du caractère international ou local de l’enseigne.La discussion des résultats aboutit à la formulation de recommandations managériales (variables qui affectent le plus le comportement d’achat envers les MDD des enseignes étudiées et la perception de l’image du magasin) et méthodologiques (orthogonalisation pour tester la modération des variables latentes de second ordre). La conclusion synthétise les apports, limites et voies de recherche futures. / The question of product and brand assortment within the stores has become a major strategic challenge to penetrate new markets and retain customers. Two changes that have particularly caught the attention of researchers and practitioners are the strong growth of store brands (SBs) compared to national brands (NB) and the increasing internationalization of retail chains.In this context, the central issue of this thesis is to understand factors explaining purchase behavior toward SB products. In this sense, a review of previous work combined with a qualitative multi-method study (desk research, interviews with 24 consumers and 8 managers) was conducted in Brazil. We then developed an integrated conceptual model of the determinants of SB choice, proposed research hypotheses and performed the validation tests with a sample of 600 Brazilian consumers.The results allow us to validate a new two-dimensional scale of SB perceived price-image. They also show that factors explaining SB choice are numerous and diverse in nature (SB perceived value, general attitude towards SBs, store image perceptions, perceived SB price-image, etc.). They also indicate that the importance of the structural paths in the model depends on the retailer as local or international.The discussion of the results leads to managerial recommendations (variables that most affect purchase behavior toward SBs and store image perceptions) and methodological ones (orthogonalization to test the moderation of second order latent variables). The conclusion summarizes the contributions, limitations and future research avenues.

This study is an in-depth investigation of the factors that affect store brand purchases. It aims to help both retailers and manufacturers predict store brand purchases through an improved understanding of the effects of three latent variables: customer satisfaction and loyalty with the store; which is expressed through word-of-mouth; and trust in store brands. An additional aim is to explore variations in the level of store brand adoption and the inter-relationships between the selected constructs. Data was collected through a telephone survey of those responsible for household grocery shopping, and who shop at the nine leading grocery retailers in Greece. A total of 904 respondents completed the questionnaire based upon a quota of 100 respondents for each of the nine retailers. Data were analyzed through chi-square, analysis of variance and partial least square. The proposed model was tested by partial least square path modeling, which related the latent variables to the dependent manifest variable: store brand purchases. The findings provide empirical support that store brand purchases are positively influenced by the consumers’ perceived level of trust in store brands. The consumer decision-making process for store brands is complex and establishing customer satisfaction and loyalty with the store does not appear to influence store brand purchases or the level of trust in the retailer’s store brands in the specific context under study. Consequently the most appropriate way to influence store brand purchases in the Greek market is through increasing in the level of trust in the retailer’s store brands. It is suggested that retailers should therefore invest in trust building strategies for their own store brands and try to capitalize on their brand equity by using a family brand policy. Theoretical and managerial implications of the findings are discussed and opportunities for further research are suggested.

This dissertation studies important issues in supply chain management and marketing interface research: competition, product line design, and channel efficiency, at the presence of vertically differentiated products. Vertical differentiation as a means of price discrimination has been well-studied in both economics and marketing literature. However, less attention has been paid on how vertical differentiation has been operationalized. In this dissertation, we focus our study on two types of vertical differentiation: the one created by a product line which is produced by the same firm, and the one created by products from different firms. We especially are interested in the so-called private label products vs. the national brand products. Specifically, this dissertation explores how vertical differentiation can affect the interactions among the members of a supply chain in several different contexts. In the first piece of work, we use a game theoretic model to explore how the ability of a retailer to introduce a private label product affects its interaction with a manufacturer of a national brand. In the second essay, we are investigating how an original equipment manufacturer (OEM) will be affected by the entry of a competitor when there are strategic suppliers of a critical component. If these suppliers behave strategically, it is not clear that the entry of other players will necessarily be harmful to the incumbent. In the last work, we pay our attention to an emerging change happening in the industry: some retailers begin to sell their private labels through their competitors. We investigate the strategic role of a retailer selling her own private label products through another retailer. In summary, this dissertation illustrates how vertical differentiation play a crucial role in firms' supply chain as well as marketing strategies. Therefore, it is important for firms to recognize these strategic issues related to vertically differentiated products while making operations/marketing decisions. / text