The investigation of consumer perception and attitudes towards the private labeling applications of chain markets

Some changes have been observed in the functions of retailing in today?s world in which traditional retailing has been replaced by organized retailing. In today?s competitive environment, significant differences have started to disappear and there is a raise in the expectations of the consumers. In this kind of situation, companies are trying to stand out with small but important differences. Private label strategy that retailers applied was mostly focused on the cost advantage at the beginning. Although this tendency continues today, it has been to associate with the quality as well. Private labels have been strengthen and it has become the rival for producer brands as the competition balance in delivery channels oriented towards the retailers and their market portion increased. The changes in consumers? life styles, purchasing behaviours and expectation with various reasons led to some changes in retailers? marketing methods. Looking for new ways to differentiate, retailers are creating a new brand on which their names are written. The value retailers give on products and services is increasing day by day with the created private labels.This evaluation about the private label products was carried out to determine the attitudes and choices of consumers, who have the freedom for purchase, towards the private label products.Various retailer companies, the concept of chain stores and supermarkets and their historical developments were mentioned in the first chapter of this study. In the second chapter, brand and private label concepts were defined and the functions of private labels from the perspectives of consumers, retailers and producers were investigated. The developments of private labels in the world and in Turkey, private label strategies of retailers and the competitions with producer brands were described. In the third chapter of the study, variables which have effects on the attitudes that consumers develop towards the private label products were examined. In the fourth chapter, information about the study which is carried out to determine the attitudes of consumers living in Bolu toward the private labels was given. It was aimed to see the tendencies of consumers towards the private labels; how they perceive the costs and qualities of these products; and which types of consumers in terms of their demographic characteristics prefer these brands more. The results of the survey which was conducted with 402 people were tested by means of SPSS software. The data was evaluated with Chi-square and factor analysis. Variance analysis was conducted in order to find out whether each factor obtained as a result of factor analysis is varied according to the demographic characteristics, private label product choices and the purchase frequencies of the consumers. In order to determine which variables cause these differences, Tukey test was conducted and the results were evaluated.