Consumer Preference Towards Own Brands with Special Reference to Own Brands of Cargills & Keells Supermarkets

Abstract

The supermarkets in Sri Lanka operate in an oligopolistic market in which the players have head to head competition. In order to win such competition, several supermarkets introduced their own brands, which are available at relatively cheaper rates than those of branded products. With this background, the study was carried out to examine the consumer preference towards such own brands introduced by Cargills & Keells Supermarkets in Sri Lanka. When developing the conceptual framework, brand equity model was used and the study explored how the brand image, brand trust, brand awareness, brand loyalty, brand association and perceived quality impact on the consumer preference towards own brands. The data was gathered through questionnaires distributed around 250 consumers in the western province. As per the correlation and multiple regression analysis, it was found that, brand image, brand trust, brand awareness, brand loyalty, brand association and perceived quality have a significant influence on consumer preference towards own brands. Hence, in order to place them ahead in competition, supermarkets should invest on their own brands while developing their product portfolio further.