A Comparative Study of Factors Influencing Consumers' Preference for Store Brands and National Brands - A Case Study of Big Bazaar in Bangalore

A Comparative Study of Factors Influencing Consumers' Preference for Store Brands and National Brands - A Case Study of Big Bazaar in Bangalore

The recent wave of reforms by the Government to introduce Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) in various sectors is bringing a new zeal to the investment climate in India. One of the most debated reforms is the policy for allowing 51 percent FDI in multi-brand retail. The Government has now approved of 51 percent FDI in multi-brand retail. According to Deloitte, organized retail, which constitutes 8 percent of the total retail market today, will grow much faster than unorganized retail and is expected to be 20 percent by 2020. With the emergence of organized retail, a new set of brands ?? store brands, have evolved. Store brands are slowly gaining popularity across the organized retail sector. While elaborate research on the emergence of store brands have been undertaken in the developed economies of North America and Western Europe, research in the context of the Indian market is still at the nascent stage. This study intends to identify the factors influencing the consumers preference towards national brands and store brands across Bangalore. As Big Bazaar is the largest retail store chain in India and also stocks a large variety of store brands, the study has been confined to the Big Bazaar outlets across Bangalore, with specific focus on the food category. Survey research method was followed in this study. Questionnaire was used for collecting primary data while the secondary data was collected from selective sources of data like journals, websites, research reports, magazines and newspapers. The convenience sampling technique was used. A sample of 250 consumers was selected from the Bangalore city. The statistical techniques which are used in the study include descriptive statistics, frequencies and percentages, reliability test and one- way ANOVA. Some of the key findings of the study are:- There is no significant difference between national and store brands for factors like product innovation, repeat purchase, product variety across category, shelf placement, brand equity, taste, shelf life and nutritional benefit. The factors perceived quality, packaging, price rise, trust, TV/Newspaper promotions, shelf search, social acceptance, freshness and cleanliness influences a consumers preference towards national brands. Four factors primarily influence consumers preference towards store brands. They are perceived risk, value for money, copycats and in-store promotion. vi It is intended that the findings of this research, about the factors influencing consumers preference towards national and store brands, will be useful to retailers, food product manufacturers etc. It will help them to assess their current strategies revolving around their respective national or store brands. The findings will also help them to target the right audience to gain maximum mileage as extensive detail has been provided based on a number of demographic variables. The content in this report details out the research conducted in this regard followed by a conclusion. Keywords: Organized retail, Store brands, National brands, Foreign Direct Investment, Demography

Bordoloi Pritom

Institute of Management