Private Label Brands versus National Brands during Economic Slowdown: A Perspective from Consumers and Retailers in Indian context

Abstract

India’s economic growth has witnessed changes in consumption pattern of individuals. There are many consumers who cannot afford to have national brands and instead looking for Private label or store brands. The situation becomes more favourable for private label brands during economic slowdown. There has been instance where few national brands have introduced private label brands or store brands. Thus the researchers have tried to study the reasons behind switch from national brands to private label brands during economic slowdown both from consumers and retailers perspective. The sample size has been 180 and 50 for consumers and retailers respectively. The sampling design is non-probability judgmental sampling. The various statistical tests used are Friedman test and Regression analysis. The findings of the study show that there is a larger switch from national to private label brands. Socio economic factors such as income, education, financial savings, and family size impact the preference for private label brands.