The effects of packaging design of private brands on consumers' responses

Abstract

AbstractThis study examines how retailers can capitalize on the packaging design for multitier private brands to drive positive consumer responses. We shed light on cognitive and affective consumer responses in relation to consumers' visual processing, price‐consciousness, and perception of retailer‐private brand congruity. The results of two studies, a pilot test, and a post‐hoc test with US consumers confirm that premium packaging design has a strong, positive impact on brand equity and consumer choice of private brands over national brands, through quality perception (i.e., cognitive response) and perceived hedonism (i.e., affective response). The impacts of packaging design on consumer responses are conditional such that packaging design influences those with a high or medium level of visual processing (i.e., a consumer characteristic), but not those with a low level of visual processing. Furthermore, we show when the premium packaging may not be preferred by showing that the moderating effects of visual processing are conditional upon the level of price‐consciousness and retailer‐private brand congruity. As one of the first studies on this topic, these insights advance the literature and help retailers develop and tailor implementations of their private brands.