Manufacturing Brands vs Store Brands A Case of Liquid Vegetable Oil Market

This study explores the factors affecting consumer choices on buying

liquid vegetable oils, and finds out the consumers’ profile for both

manufacturer and store brand products. The main objective is to determine the

outstanding and distinguished attributes of these two groups of brands. For

this end, <st1:place w:st="on"><st1:city w:st="on">Erzurum</st1:city></st1:place>

city centre has been divided into four sub-districts, and then a survey study

with 250 households has been conducted. First, factor analysis was used to

determine attributes which affect the purchasing behaviours of consumers in

manufacturer and store brand vegetable oil. Then, consumers were divided into

four sub-clusters by using k-means cluster analysis to seek clusters of

consumers on the basis of relative homogeneity of their attitudes towards

vegetable oil attributes. In the final step, the profile of each cluster was

defined by cross-tabulation showing distribution of the clusters deal with

consumer demographic and socioeconomic attitudes.<o:p></o:p>

Factor analysis generated 8 and 2 factors for manufacturer and store

brands, respectively. Results show that consumers have different preferences

and purchasing decisions for manufacturer and store brand liquid vegetable

oils. The most important food attributes for both manufacturer and store brands

are shelf life, flavor, health concern and quality. However,

the variables “price, promotion, quality-price relation,

brand name, retailer image and trust to retailer” are more important attributes

for store brands than for manufacturer brands. Cluster profiles for these two

groups of brands are also different from each other. For example, while cluster

1 was dominated by “young high-income and college educated housewives”

in manufacturer brands, it was “young high-income and high school educated

workers” in store brands.<o:p></o:p>