The effects of consumers’ psychological characteristics on intentions to purchase Private Labels

: a study on the Essential Grocery Goods category

Abstract

Private Labels are brands owned by retailers and marketed exclusively in their stores. Its competitive price and acceptable quality are some of its advantages. The demand for Private Labels is expected to continue rising in the coming years, especially during economic recessions, when consumers need to do cost savings and switch from National Brands to Private Labels. This dissertation analyzes intentions to purchase Private Labels in the Essential Grocery Goods category, which includes pasta, rice, olive oil, oil, flour, sugar, among others, in the Portuguese market. The research questions aim to understand the main drivers and barriers to purchase, and the effects of consumers’ psychological characteristics, such as personality traits and maximization scales, on purchasing intentions. For that, a literature review and a qualitative analysis were done to develop the research hypotheses, followed by a quantitative analysis to verify those hypotheses. Regarding consumers’ personality traits, Agreeableness positively influences intentions to purchase Economy Pasta and Premium Pasta, while Extraversion positively influences the purchasing intentions for Premium Pasta and Premium Olive Oil. As for consumers’maximization scales, High Standards negatively impact intentions to purchase Economy Pasta and Economy Olive Oil, Alternative Search positively influences Standard Pasta “Italy”, and Decision Difficulty negatively influences the purchasing intentions for Standard Olive Oil“From Cooperative”. The consumption of Flour is not significantly influenced by consumers’psychological characteristics.

Date of Award	26 Apr 2022
Original language	English
Awarding Institution	Universidade Católica Portuguesa
Supervisor	Daniel Fernandes (Supervisor)