CONSUMER ATTITUDE TOWARDS PRIVATE LABEL BRANDS

In the light of scarcity of previous empirical research on consumer attitude, the present study gains greater importance to fill the gap in studying three dimensions i.e. consumer price perception, reputation dimension, deal proneness dimension which influence the attitude of consumers primarily in the Indian apparel industry. Determining the attitude of consumers towards PLBs in comparison to other brands has become an increasingly important part of the retail industry. However, the reasons for which these have been added to the firm's portfolio have not been thoroughly researched. Recent studies on consumer attitude towards private labels have largely examined attitudes in general. This research is an attempt to provide additional information in narrowing the research gap to understand the attitude to a specific category like apparels. Consequently the underlying problem that is addressed in this research is reflected in the question: "How does the attitude of the consumers affect their purchase decision?" The research in the past has been focusing on consumer attitude towards the food products vis-à-vis private labels but the apparel industry has received little attention of the researchers to understand the consumer's approach towards these. The purpose of the present research is to determine the factors that are considered important by consumers while selecting private labels. Past studies on consumer attitude towards PLBs have mostly concentrated on mature markets like the United States and United Kingdom where private labels are well established. There has been relatively little research of emerging markets where these brands are not so well established or where they are in the early stages of development.