engleski

Perception of private labels in the growth phase of the product life cycle

Private labels have reached high market share in developed markets, especially in Western Europe. The market share of private labels in emerging markets, like Croatia, remains substantially lower. However, these markets are also characterized by high growth rates, which are partially influenced by recent economic downturn, but also symbolize growing acceptance of private labels among consumers. Nevertheless, further success and development of private labels is highly dependant on how consumers perceive them, especially during the growth phase of their life cycle. The goal of the paper is to explore how consumers in Croatia perceive private labels in general, as well as in different product categories. The results of exploratory research conducted on the Croatian market show that consumers mostly associate private labels with low price, good value and with a specific retailer. Furthermore, lower price is also the main reason why consumers buy private labels on Croatian market. Positive attitudes towards private labels are dominantly based on good value they entail while negative attitudes arise from high perceived risk because producer of private labels is often not specified on the product.

Private labels; Consumer perception; Growth phase; Croatia

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