Consumers liking of private labels. An evaluation of intrinsic and extrinsic orange juice cues

The objective of this article is to compare product quality and brand choice for private labels (PL) and national brands (NB). Over the past two decades, PL have gained larger and larger share of grocery sales, and nowadays PL play a crucial part in the European food retail sector. Since it is stated that most PL have moved on from being mostly low cost me-too products to become also premium products, we want to investigate if objective and perceived quality of PL fits the quality of NB. Four hypotheses are stated and tested on orange juice data from Norway. A trained sensory panel and consumers (n = 105) evaluated six juice samples that vary according to three factors. These factors were (1) Brand (PL and NB), (2) Treatment (Gentle heat treatment and Pasteurized) and (3) Pulp (with and without). Principal component analysis, two-way ANOVA, and PLS regression were conducted, and the results indicate that variation in quality exists both among PL and NB, there is a large discrepancy between blind liking and brand choice, and that consumers with a positive attitude towards PL are more likely to choose a PL instead of a NB.

► In this study, product quality and brand choice for PL and NB is compared.
► Sensory and consumer evaluation were conducted on orange juice data from Norway.
► Variation in quality exists both among PL and NB.
► There is a large discrepancy between blind liking and likelihood of choice for PL.
► The likelihood of choosing PL is affected by consumers attitude towards PL.