Retailers Behavior towards Salience of Mature Product Brands – An Empirical Study on a Major Cola Brand in a Developing Economy

Abstract

The effectiveness of displays is proven beyond doubt in impulse buying, however, the quantification of the effect has some differences of opinion. Role of retailers to enhance the salience of brands is a major influence in purchase decisions of mature product categories. Many researchers have emphasized the importance of POP (Point of Purchase) displays to stretch the salience high especially in low involvement products like soft drinks. Cola giants like Pepsi and Coca Cola have long been drawn in the war of displays in nearby local mom and pop stores called kirana shops in India. Many of these companies give POP materials free of cost to retailers and try to have shops selling only their products exclusively. However, a large number of shops still sell competing brands of colas. Cola companies have also given many visi - coolers (the transparent refrigerators in which the inside contents are visible to the consumers from a distance) to the shop keepers, free of cost. It’s expected that it will increase the sales of their brand and the shopkeeper is expected to keep only the company’s product for cooling/display and not that of competitors. This study is aimed at finding the behavior of retailers toward providing salience of a major cola brand through the display of its brands by visi coolers.