Effects of Private and Public Label Packaging on Consumer Purchase Patterns

Abstract

The evaluation of package branding is important to determine its ability to connect with consumers on an emotional level. In the past, focus groups have been the traditional method used to evaluate branding; however, focus groups can be seen as an inaccurate method of gathering data due to purely qualitative data collection. This paper presents a retail shopping experiment conducted in CUShop ™ , a consumer experience laboratory, to determine whether consumers prefer a public label product versus a private label product, utilizing eye tracking to analyse the decision-making process. Results illustrated that purchase decision as well as time spent observing packaging indicates that participants preferred public branded packaging with respect to its private label competitor. 4 Consumers interpret a brand through aesthetics and emotional associations, connecting the brand image with their expectations of the product. 6 Packaging is a prominent form of brand advertisement. The packaging of a product can encourage purchasing decisions by working as a vehicle of interest, communication and aesthetics. 18 In other words, the package can become synonymous with the brand itself. Much of this is accomplished through brand dress, the combination of symbols, typography and colours that work synchronically to express brand ideology and quickly identify the brand. Brand dress develops brand awareness, increasing customer loyalty and improving initial purchasing and repurchasing of the product. Brand dress even works to highlight the brand once the package is brought home. Brand dress and packaging design as a whole are the most effective methods for emphasizing the brand due to its ability to persuade consumers at the point of purchase and continue making impressions after purchase. 13Among products, there is a branding division between private and public labels. A private label product is defined as a product owned and branded by a company whose top business priority is distribution rather than manufacturing, as it is for a public brand. 11 In the past, private labels, also known as store brands, have been seen as being of lesser value than public brands due to their lack of shelf presence.8 They generally mimicked the design characteristics of the public brands within their particular category. 12 More recently, however, the design of store brand packaging has been evolving, thus altering consumer perception of private labels.8 Private label packaging is now being increasingly purchased not only due to its lower pricing, which has an average price of 21% below public brands, but also because of its enhanced shelf appeal.5 Private label brands accounted for over a fifth of the combined sales in the United States and are currently increasing at a faster rate than public brands. 14 Prior to this study, no peer-reviewed study has tested consumers' preference to public label versus private label using eye tracking technology. Focus groups have been the default choice in preference testing, which relies on group communication as ...

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