THE EFFECTS OF CONSUMER PERCEPTION ON STORE IMAGE AND PRIVATE LABEL: COMPARATIVE STUDY BETWEEN TAIWAN AND JAPAN

Sa？etak In this paper, we report on empirical results on the relation between a private label and store image in Taiwan and Japan. Private labels are generally defined as goods which shall be sold in a specific retailer as the retailer’s original brand. Retailers preferred to sell private labels because the private label cannot be sold in other retail stores, and can contribute to the retailer’s profit. Private labels, however, have been regarded as cheaper goods than national brands. Indeed, average prices of private labels are always cheaper than national brands’ are. So typically, when consumers choose a private label, just for price reason. Recently in Japan, consumer perceptions to private labels are gradually changing. This change is attributed in some extent to new product development by convenience stores. These private labels are placed at better locations than national brands are in the stores. These private labels are no longer regarded as cheaper goods, rather as “the only-one goods” at the specific retail store. In this paper, we examine how the consumers’ perceptual characteristics and a store’s image influence private label attitude and purchase intention. We conducted two surveys of 350 and 670 consumers both in Taiwan and Japan, respectively. We found that consumer perceptual characteristics and store image both impact on purchase intention, but that consumer perceptual characteristics have a stronger effect on private label attitude than store image. In addition, store image plays the role of antecedent in consumer perceptual characteristics