Private label and manufacturer brand choice in a new competitive reality: Strategic directions and the future of brands

Andres Cuneo, Sandra J. Milberg, Maria del Carmen Alarcon-del-Amo and Pilar Lopez-Belbeze

European Management Journal, 2019, vol. 37, issue 1, 117-128

Abstract: The significant expansion and transformation of private label brands (PLBs) in many categories and markets worldwide have dramatically modified the competitive reality of the marketplace resulting in a new configuration of the brand landscape. This phenomenon has also contributed to the emergence of divergent brand choice patterns among consumers. By segmenting brand buyers on the basis of their brand choice behavior and psychographics, specifically lifestyles, we uncover four consumer segments purchasing different mixes of brand typologies, namely, top-tier and second-tier manufacturer brands as well as PLBs. Each segment exhibits different motives underlying its brand choice pattern. Identifying these diverse and unique brand choice patterns and the drivers of them has meaningful strategic implications for retail managers on how to incentivize PLB choice and for manufacturer brand managers on how to combat PLB growth. Finally, we discuss how the identification of consumer segments exhibiting distinct brand purchase patterns may have implications for the future of brands and brand management.

Keywords: Private label brands; Manufacturer brands; Brand choice; Market segmentation; Polarized consumption; Hybrid consumption; Latent class analysis (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2019
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (7)

Downloads: (external link)
http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0263237318300665
Full text for ScienceDirect subscribers only

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:eee:eurman:v:37:y:2019:i:1:p:117-128

Ordering information: This journal article can be ordered from
http://www.elsevier.com/wps/find/journaldescription.cws_home/115/bibliographic
http://www.elsevier. ... me/115/bibliographic

DOI: 10.1016/j.emj.2018.05.003

Access Statistics for this article

European Management Journal is currently edited by Michael Haenlein

More articles in European Management Journal from Elsevier
Bibliographic data for series maintained by Catherine Liu ().