Branded items vs. brands

Asking shoppers to differentiate between the influence/importance of brands and their preference for specific branded items was one of the unique features of this survey. Many respondents enjoyed making the distinction and most found it easy to make. Over 80 percent rated the influence of branded item preference separately from the influence of brand in each of the categories they used and rated, some explaining the differences in their brand and item preference ratings with comments like: "When it comes to ice cream, I buy the flavors we like. Brand matters very little."

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Here are two excerpts from the purchase influence report's Age Group Summary table:

* Respondents in the 35-49 age group generally believed that both price and freshness have more influence than either brand or even specific item preferences on their purchase decisions.

* Item Influence is almost as important as brand Influence.

* The low level of brand influence helps to explain why so many retailers believe that they can grow private label to double or triple its present market share.

* Retailers can encroach upon brand extensions with far less customer dissatisfaction than would result from encroaching upon favorite items.

* The danger for store brand expansion is that, taken together, the combined influence of brand and favored items carries more weight than price or freshness. Retailers who push private label too far will still pay a high price in lost customers.

The other meaning we found in the brand versus item preference data has to do with the reasons our shoppers give for buying store brands versus national brands. The overwhelming reason for buying store brands used to be saving money. That's still a reason for many shoppers to buy store brands in many categories.

What has changed for a great many shoppers is the reason for buying or not buying national brands. Rather than buying store brands to save, many of today's shoppers are buying them because they don't see a reason to pay more for the national brand except for items they especially like.

Brand and Item as Separate Influences

Age group:           35-49

Price Influence      23.5%

Freshness Influence  20.6%

Brand Influence      19.5%

Item Influence       18.2%

Packaging Influence  18.1%

Total Influences     100%

Brand and Item as Combined Influence

Age group:           35-49

Brand and item
influences combined  37.7%

Price Influence      23.5%

Freshness Influence  20.6%

Packaging Influence  18.1%

Total Influences     100%

Happy New Year, Mona Doyle

COPYRIGHT 2006 Consumer Network, Inc
COPYRIGHT 2006 Gale Group