O objetivo deste trabalho é investigar o consumo de marcas próprias em supermercados, com enfoque nas escolhas do consumidor entre a marca própria e a marca líder . Pretende-se captar a percepção dos consumidores relativamente a preços e qualidade dos produtos fornecidos com a marca dos varejistas. Analisar com qual freqüência os produtos são consumidos, investigar qual o diferencial de preço que o consumidor está disposto a pagar pela marca própria em relação à marca líder, através do método de pesquisa de Grupos de Foco (Focus Group). A decisão de estudar a escolha de marcas próprias pelos consumidores em supermercados deve-se à necessidade de se conhecer esta modalidade específica de consumo, identificando a percepção, o comportamento e o processo de decisão do público supermercadista de modo a trazer contribuições teóricas para Administração de Varejo a partir da pesquisa. / ABSTRACT The objective of this work is to investigate the consumption of private label products in supermarkets, focusing on the consumers\' choices between private label and leading brand products. It is intended to catch the perception of the consumers relatively to the prices and product quality associated to the retailers\' brands. The Focus Group research method is used in order to analyze with which frequency the products are consumed and to investigate which is the price gap that the consumers are willing to pay for private label in relation the leading brands. The decision to study the choice of private label by supermarket consumers is due to the need of knowing, through this research, this specific type of consumption, identifying the perception, the behavior and the decision process of the supermarket clientele in order to bring theoretical contributions to Retail Management body of knowledge.

Background and Problem: Consumer behavior has become a topic of great interest in today’s society. Considering todays competitive markets it is imperative that companies understand the needs and actions of their customers. There are many influences behind consumers’ decisions of choosing one brand over another. This thesis investigates Swedish consumers and why some private label products succeed, while others fail within different product categories. Purpose: The purpose of this thesis is to investigate how the nature of the good influences Swedish consumers in their decision between private label and national brand goods. Frame of reference: Three theories are applied in order to understand consumer choices: brand loyalty, perceived risk factor and social risk factor. Method: Both a quantitative survey and qualitative interviews have been carried out and applied to the three theories. Coding of interviews was used to understand how the level of influence varies amongst different product types. In order to respond to the research questions, these findings were compared to sales statistics received from Swedish supermarkets. Conclusion: It can be concluded that the three influences affect consumer choices differently,depending on the type of good. Private label brands succeed in low loyalty, low social risk, and low perceived risk goods, while national brands take the lead in high brand loyalty, high social pressure and high associated risk good categories.

The proportion that the retailer develops the own brand grows to even greater heights, domestic large retailers develop the own brand one after another and private labels (PBs) invade and occupy the market badly. The retailer develops the own brand challenging the leading brand of the market directly and under the situation with limited shelve space, the relationship between them changes and becomes rival meaning from the original cooperation. How should the retailer obtain an equalization point when make the competitive rivalry for the growth of its own brand from originally act manufacturers' consumer role? For manufacturers, how to protect the negotiation price space with shelve to the retailer, and how to keep making a profit in their consumers¡¦ brand loyalty? This research by interviewing both two sides to explore the future trend of PBs, what strategies will manufacturers take to avoid PBs¡¦ threats , what market size will be the PBs¡¦ limit and which two sides achive their balance point. Through summarizing the papers , developing the research process of this thesis and using the research method of case study to combine theory and experiment.By interviewing the leading brands of consumer goods and food industry and experienced retailer on PBs, after analyzing and comparing, to draw a conclusion to collect above objectives.

In recent years, there are more and more private label products in Taiwan¡¦s retailing channel. It is easy for consumer to purchase those products though supermarkets, hypermarkets, or convenience stores. Retailers have developed and sold private label products widely in the United State and Europe for past three decades, and high proportions of the consumers had such good impression for those products. Private label can create big profit for retailing channel especially in hypermarket in Taiwan, but the actual profit remains small for years. That¡¦s why we want to know what causes the result. In this article we hope to find some important facts and to provide suggestions for the future strategies. Private label products can have different performance through different categories, and many articles find that private label in some specific categories bring more profits than others. In this article, we choose ten different products to understand how product characteristics affect consumer behavior. We use convenience sampling in Taipei and Kaohsiung. By means of the questionnaire survey, we try to learn more about the effect of consumer behavior and product characteristics on hypermarket's private label¡¦s attitude and purchasing behavior. Both quality and price are key factors which can affect purchasing. The quality difference between national brands and private labels cause the lower purchasing intentions in private label. We also find that private label performs better in daily use products and stationery. It is shown that through different categories, the acceptance and attitude toward private label will be different. We suggest adding more factors of consumer behavior and product characteristics to understand the purchasing behavior and the attitude toward private label products in the future study.

O objetivo deste trabalho é investigar o consumo de marcas próprias em supermercados, com enfoque nas escolhas do consumidor entre a marca própria e a marca líder . Pretende-se captar a percepção dos consumidores relativamente a preços e qualidade dos produtos fornecidos com a marca dos varejistas. Analisar com qual freqüência os produtos são consumidos, investigar qual o diferencial de preço que o consumidor está disposto a pagar pela marca própria em relação à marca líder, através do método de pesquisa de Grupos de Foco (Focus Group). A decisão de estudar a escolha de marcas próprias pelos consumidores em supermercados deve-se à necessidade de se conhecer esta modalidade específica de consumo, identificando a percepção, o comportamento e o processo de decisão do público supermercadista de modo a trazer contribuições teóricas para Administração de Varejo a partir da pesquisa. / ABSTRACT The objective of this work is to investigate the consumption of private label products in supermarkets, focusing on the consumers\' choices between private label and leading brand products. It is intended to catch the perception of the consumers relatively to the prices and product quality associated to the retailers\' brands. The Focus Group research method is used in order to analyze with which frequency the products are consumed and to investigate which is the price gap that the consumers are willing to pay for private label in relation the leading brands. The decision to study the choice of private label by supermarket consumers is due to the need of knowing, through this research, this specific type of consumption, identifying the perception, the behavior and the decision process of the supermarket clientele in order to bring theoretical contributions to Retail Management body of knowledge.

The internationalization started to be seen as an opportunity for many companies, a strategic way to grow; therefore they assume different levels of commitment in the international market. This dissertation analyzes which internationalization strategies are being used by Brazilian companies in the textile industry and why these companies have chosen these strategies along the time line. The chosen method is a qualitative approach with semi-structured interviews. The companies chosen are Cia. Hering, Dudalina and Karsten; all three have long history in the textile industry and started to export at least more than 30 years ago. Analyzing the companies within the frame of Kraus theory (2000, 2006), it was possible found that the main strategies along the time were: exporting via private label manufacturing, FDI, exporting the own brand and franchising. The internationalization strategies of the companies in the beginning were related to the significant production capacity that boosted their exports, mainly exporting private label. Another remarkable fact was the positive moment of the Brazilian economy that facilitated their exports. Enjoying the positive moment, Cia. Hering and Karsten reached the most committed level of involvement in international operations. With no consolidate brand abroad therefore the Asian competition and not favorable currency exchange rates, they had to return and operate mainly to the domestic market. The companies had no consolidate strategy in the beginning; nevertheless now, all them are concerned in building stronger brands than in past, since they are leaving or at least decreasing the private label exports. The companies have changed focus from production to the market.

ABSTRACT   Title: Private label in the supermarket industry: a case study of ICA.   Level: Final thesis for a Bachelor Degree in Business Administration   Author: Zhing Mo, Yulan Qu   Supervisor: Dr. Aihie Osarenkhoe   Date: 2010 – May   Aim: This dissertation aims to find out the motives behind the introduction of private label in ICA. The purpose is to further integrate the private label as a branding concept.    Method: Both quantitative and qualitative methods have been used in this research. The primary data has been collected through face-to-face interviews with ICA managers and an administer questionnaire. Secondary data has been collected from books, articles and the Internet.   Limitations: This research was limited by the size of the customer population and the number of stores. In addition the research was performed during the early stages of market penetration by ICA’s private label, and the results of future research might be different.   Conclusions: ICA released private label to counter manufacturer power and to be more price competitive. Moreover, it had a positive effect on customers’ loyalty. The introduction of the ICA private label had a great impact on brand image and brand awareness. With regards to loyalty, the ICA private label strategy is on the correct track but still has a gap between the intended objective and actuality.    Contribution of the thesis: This research contributes to finding out the advantages for retailers of introducing private label. Another contribution is to help the readers gain an in-depth understanding of private label in a brand concept. Moreover the research also presents some interesting prospects for further research.   Key words: private label, brand image, brand awareness, brand loyalty

According to ACNeilsen survey, the consumers in Taiwan have more brand awareness toward private label of retailers. In 2005, there had 87% consumers who went shopping in supermarkets or hypermarkets knew private label. Moreover, according to ITIS research which revealed the total amount of food private brand are 1,088 in Taiwan, and the average amount in hypermarket are 363, and second are convenience stores and supermarkets. However there is still huge gap between hypermarkets and convenience stores. Thus this situation reveals the potential market for private label of convenience stores. In 2008, 7-11 launched its own private brand 7-SELECT, and to differentiate from other low price position, 7-SELECT provide best price for the value. And it had great performance when it first time to market. Therefore this research will investigate the key success factor of 7-SELECT, and through four dimensions which are price, product and design, store image and promote and the intervening variable brand equity to explore purchase intention. According to data analysis, it is obvious that price, product and design, store image and promote affected purchase intention. This means a customer bought 7-SELECT may base on these factors. However brand equity did not have effect on purchase intention, the reasons could be it is still a new brand for one year, and its new product did not promote intensively, and the 7-SELECT layout can not attract customers¡¦ attention. Otherwise, the analysis outcome reveals there is not strong linkage between brand equity and 7-SELECT, and this result can provide the reference to retailers who develop their own private label.

Rising competition among retailers, coupled with the economic recession and its influence on the consumers' cautiousness in consumption causes private label to become a new profit protection policy for the retailer industry. Private label symbolizes that retailers control the channel. As consumers recognize private label more , it will gradually influence the public¡¦s consumption attitude. The research conducted among three successful private label retailers and used the case interview. Aimed at the product features, brand equity, pricing strategy, promotion and channel of private label products and used different dimensions to probe into each case company¡¦s strategy. The private label strategy of retailers is summarized through the categorization analysis . The survey of the consumer behavior are framed six items: product features, brand equity, price, promotion, channel and service , then do the questionnaire survey on Costco consumers who purchase private label. Also view the satisfaction condition from Costco consumer with regards to private label. The results and conclusions are as follows: retailers mainly focus on private label products that provide quicker circulation and economies of scale. As long as the retailer can provide products whose quality is similar to national brand products at a more competitive price, consumers may choose private label products of good quality and price. Furthermore, in the aspect of promotion, retailers commonly adopt the DM , choosing several private label products to sell at a lower price than promotion price. Finally, in the aspect of channel, due to the less popularity of private label products than national brand product, the retailers have to attract consumers through the national brand in order to give a chance to private label through channel advantage. For example, intensive advertisement inside stores can influence the consumer¡¦s choice by placing private label in the area of consumer¡¦s eye sight zone. Lastly, this study and consumer survey proposes recommendations for retailers based on understanding customer need.

Τα προϊόντα ιδιωτικής ετικέτας ή προϊόντα λιανεμπορικής επωνυμίας αποτελούν τα εμπορεύματα που φέρουν την επωνυμία του καταστήματος ή άλλη επωνυμία που ανήκει όμως στην εμπορική επιχείρηση. Κατασκευάζονται για λογαριασμό της εμπορικής επιχείρησης, συνήθως από τρίτους, και διατίθενται στο δίκτυο καταστημάτων . Στην σημερινή εποχή, τα προϊόντα ιδιωτικής ετικέτας αποτελούν τα πλέον ανταγωνιστικά προϊόντα για τις επώνυμες μάρκες και κατέχουν ένα μεγάλο μέρος στα ράφια των σούπερ μάρκετ, καθώς παρατηρούνται παράλληλα αυξημένα μερίδια αγοράς σε διάφορες κατηγορίες προϊόντων σε σχέση με το παρελθόν που λειτουργούσαν ως υποστηρικτικά των αντίστοιχων επώνυμων προϊόντων. Με δεδομένη την ραγδαία ανάπτυξη των προϊόντων ιδιωτικής ετικέτας στα σούπερ μάρκετ, τα τελευταία χρόνια, τόσο στο προϊοντικό εύρος που καλύπτουν όσο και στην μεγαλύτερη αποδοχή τους από το καταναλωτικό κοινό, η εξέτασή τους κρίνεται σαφώς πολύ ενδιαφέρουσα. Έτσι, λοιπόν, οι στόχοι της συγκεκριμένης έρευνας που διενεργείται στα πλαίσια της παρούσας διπλωματικής εργασίας είναι να διερευνηθεί η στάση και η συμπεριφορά των καταναλωτών στα προϊόντα ιδιωτικής ετικέτας των σούπερ μάρκετ, να αναζητηθούν συσχετίσεις και στατιστικά σημαντικές διαφορές μεταξύ προφίλ καταναλωτή και αγοραστικής συμπεριφοράς για τα προϊόντα ιδιωτικής ετικέτας και να προσδιοριστούν ομάδες καταναλωτών αγοράς προϊόντων ιδιωτικής ετικέτας και όλα αυτά μέσα στο πλαίσιο της οικονομικής κρίσης που πλήττει την ελληνική κοινωνία από το 2008. Η διπλωματική εργασία χωρίζεται σε επτά κεφάλαια. Στο πρώτο παρουσιάζεται η κατάσταση του λιανεμπορίου στην ελληνική αγορά, με αναφορά στις κυριότερες αλυσίδες σούπερ μάρκετ που συναντάμε σήμερα. Στο δεύτερο κεφάλαιο περιγράφονται κάποια βασικά θεωρητικά στοιχεία γύρω από την συμπεριφορά καταναλωτή, ενώ στο κεφάλαιο 3 αρχίζουμε την αναφορά στα προϊόντα ιδιωτικής ετικέτας. Στο κεφάλαιο 4, περιγράφουμε τους παράγοντες που επηρεάζουν την επιλογή προϊόντων ιδιωτικής ετικέτας και προχωράμε στο κεφάλαιο 5 με την περιγραφή της ερευνητικής μεθοδολογίας που ακολουθήσαμε. Στο κεφάλαιο 6 φαίνονται τα αποτελέσματα του ερωτηματολογίου που χρησιμοποιήσαμε στην έρευνα μας, ενώ στο τελευταίο κεφάλαιο παρουσιάζοντα τα συμπεράσματα της έρευνας. Στο παράρτημα μπορεί να βρεθεί το ερωτηματολόγιο όπως ακριβώς μοιράστηκε στους συμμετέχοντες της έρευνας και η διπλωματική εργασία κλείνει με την βιβλιογραφία. / Private label and consumer behaviour in the enviroment of Greek crisis.