The effect of store image, package and price similarity on consumer perceptions of store brand quality

Research has shown that consumers perceive store brands to represent a good value. Store brands have leveraged this value perception to acquire considerable market share in the grocery industry. National brands have resisted the encroachment of store brands in the market by the maintenance of higher perceived brand quality. This national brand competitive advantage provides store brands with a potential strategic focus in the form of creating higher perceived store brand quality. Perceptions of higher store brand quality may depend on the combined presence of consistent positive cues to quality, such as a favorable store image, packaging similar to that of national brands, and a price closer to national brand prices. The research described in this dissertation investigated the relationship between these extrinsic cues and perceptions of store brand quality.; Results indicate that store image and package similarity are indeed important in determining consumer store brand quality judgments when consumer store brand knowledge is taken into account. The results have important implications for store brand pricing and imitation strategies.