Spanish Food Private Labels: In Search of a Differential Positioning

Background

There is a considerable volume of academic literature focusing on perceptions when undertaking the study of Private Labels. It is widely accepted that the value of a brand transcends the value of the products that it covers and identifies (Shocker & Srinivasan, 1979), and that using products recreates feelings and emotions in the consumers’ mind, becoming a means of self-expression and for creating self-identity (Aaker & Mc.Loughlin, 2007; Richins, 1994). Marketing actions taken on price, price promotion, store image or advertising may alter the consumers’ brand value (Yoo et al., 2000). As with any other brand, all PL are increasingly imbued with emotion and ‘imagery’, more than just the functional logic attached to PL in the previous generation (Kumar et al., 2007). Attributes to explain consumer proneness to purchasing PL are often considered in the academic literature from the perception point of view (Ailawadi & Keller, 2004; Wicks & Roethlein, 2009; Zeithaml, 1988). Even risk analysis has been approached from the consumers’ perception of the risks themselves and the alimentary safety (Verbeke, 2005).