INTRODUCTION
Background to the research
Private label products, or store brands, have become a major force with more than 268 billions US dollars in sales presented (Perez, 2008) Despite their market penetration varies from countries to countries, from retailers to retailers and from product categories to product categories; these brands, owned and managed by retailers, have grown to be a noteworthy threat to national brand manufacturers because of the too- closed quality gap between them To retailers, private labels are not only one of key motivations for differentiation but also a strategy to improve their profitability, store attributes and brand loyalty (Quelch and Harding, 1996)
This dissertation discovers consumer attitudes towards private labels of MCCVN with respect to key attributes of the store Even though consumer attitudes towards private labels have been span more than 40years in the world, this concept is still new in such a developing market of Vietnam as the first stage of penetration and further development prospect predicted in the future
The literature review would deeply draw the whole scene of private labels from the viewpoint of retailers It also presents private label positioning as well as determinants of consumer attitudes towards private labels in which store attributes impressed and analyzed in detail base on the research of Chowdhury et al (1998) and Dodd and Lindley (2003) with reference to the dissertation of Fraser (2009) and Beyza and Leyla
(2007), and the examination on brand equity of Nguyen & Nguyen (2008)
Within the scope of the first chapter, the retail market of Vietnam in general and Metro Cash and Carry Vietnam in particular is examined The research question and hypotheses together with the methodology used in the study are introduced in the subsequent sections, following by definitions and explanations of some terminologies
The last part provides a summary of the chapter.
Retail modernization in Vietnam
In Vietnam, the modern retailing began in the mid 1990s in the HCMC area (James M
Hagen, 2002), followed by the capital, Hanoi, and Danang By end of 2007, there are
153 supermarkets (Lotte Mart, Coop Mart, Maximark, Citimart,…), 70 convenient stores (G7 mart, Shop and Go, Vinatex…), 4 hypermarkets (Big C) and 5 warehouse clubs (MCCVN) (Retail and shopper trends – Urban HCMC and Hanoi, AC Nielsen,
2008) Private labels have been established in 2000s, mostly by namely substantial stores as MCCVN, Coop Mart, Big C and Maximark Although they are considered as one of key parts of the modern retail strategy, their contribution is humble to count for, even in their internal sales shares, for example in MCCVN (one of the biggest concentrating on private labels from the beginning) private label sales share is only by 3% in 2009
As ranked by global management consulting firm A.T Kearney (the Global Retail Development Index – GRDI), Vietnam has fell down to 6 th in 2009 from the most attractive retail market in the developing world in 2008 because of inflationary pressures from its own real estate boom, consumer price inflation in the last half of
2008, and a significant drop in its export-driven economy However, this retailing is still considered one of the most attractive industries in Vietnam and continuing to transform Vietnam economics with domestic consumption as a primary focus coinciding with its committable opening doors to international investors, young population and continuously urbanizing process – a trend that should favor continued growth in retail over the long term (Moriarty and Shabat, A.T Kearney partners) This retail process of modernization and innovation would trigger enhance the bright
The Metro Cash and Carry Vietnam
MCCVN has started business in Vietnam since 2002 By 2009, it is voted as the first choice international wholesaler and the market leader in Vietnam with 9 stores nation- wide currently and 5 more plots expansion processing With sales regularly increase year after year, in 2009, it achieved vnd bil7,188 (11% increase in compare with 2008) vs vnd bil15,770 of the modern grocery distribution in hypermarket and supermarket (MGD; 37% increase in compare with 2008); or 45.6% of MGD Vietnam (Source:
Euromonitor, MCCI Corp Controlling) However, competitors still exist as hypermarkets, supermarkets and convenient stores (Big C, Saigon Co-op, Maximark, Lotte…), wet markets, importers, black/grey markets and shortly coming international retailers like Tesco, Auchan, Aeon Its most limitations but opportunities to improve are payment method by cash and limited delivery services
It is also necessary to have a quick glance on MCCVN’s customer types MCCVN is a solely special business type in Vietnam that mostly concentrates on sales in bulk Their customer types are professionals, classified into three: Horeca to concentrate on hotel/accommodation, restaurant, bar/café, canteen, eateries and catering customers;
Traders to concentrate on big groceries, mom and pop shops and small wholesalers;
SCO to concentrate on service, companies, offices and non-residents consumers While customer shares among these types are in turn 12.6%, 19% and 68.4%; the turnover shares are slightly alike 15%, 30% and 55% (MCCVN source, 2008) For the scope of this dissertation, SCO consumers are chosen to examine because of its largest ratio in both consumers share and sales share In another reason, SCO is also the consumer type of other supermarkets, hypermarkets and convenient stores That not only helps expand the dissertation scope to apply to other store types (supermarket, hypermarket, convenient store…) in somehow but also be adaptable for retailing concept applied for MCCVN in retailing aspect
There are a number of MCCVN's private labels: Aro/ Fine Food/ H-Line/ Luxana/
Horeca Select/ Sigma/ Fairline/ Authentic/ L.Lambertazzi/ Rioba/ Watson and/or Tarrington House These products are exclusive product lines of Metro, called Metro own brands (private labels – see Appendix B) They are targeted by different levels, such as Aro is considered as price entry (C-level) of food and partly non-food products while Fine Food is positioned as umbrella brand (B-level brand of price and A-level brand of quality) of food products only 1 They are therefore set to compete to corresponding levels of national brands
1The brand level is ordered from A (premium level) to B (value for money) to C (price
Member of METRO Group METRO Cash & Carry International GmbH
Metro vs competitions among professional customers
Top 1 supplier Top 2 supplier One of many suppliers (prompted)
Research objectives
As previously mentioned, private labels are new phenomenon in Vietnam To retailers, it plays an important role and becomes 6 th out of retailers’ top ten critical issues (Fraser, 2009; MCCVN – Ownbrand training, 2009) Not only a key motivation to create competitive advantages through store differentiation which helps retailers to enhance store patronage and store loyalty, to create brand loyalty as well as to attract more consumers from other retailers through high-quality private labels; it is also considered as a means to improve profitability, through both higher retail margins and increased bargaining power with national brand manufacturers (Fraser, 2009)
Vietnam is a developing market The role of brand image is more and more important
However, there is little research examined brand image in Vietnam, or they are not perfectly fit in well with Vietnam case (Nguyen & Nguyen, 2008) The dissertation examines consumer attitudes towards private labels with reference to store attributes, only more recently has there been research of their roles on attitudes towards private labels, tested in other countries outside Vietnam With the purpose to contribute an empirical study on this issue, the overall objective of this dissertation is to explore the impact of store attributes on consumer attitudes towards private labels Specifically, it examines the impacts of: a Product variety on consumer attitudes towards private labels b Product quality on consumer attitudes towards private labels c Price on consumer attitudes towards private labels d Service on consumer attitudes towards private labels e Atmosphere on consumer attitudes towards private labels f Convenience on consumer attitudes towards private labels
Significance of the study
The study would help supermarkets, hypermarkets, convenience store chains, marketing companies, market research companies, marketing researchers and students to have clearer view on what private labels are and how they are important as well as the influence of store attributes:
− To supermarkets, hypermarkets and convenience store chains: to draw their strategies on improving their competence and revenue as much effective as possible in reference to the role of private labels
− To marketing companies and market research companies: to catch the important attributes of the store on consumer attitudes towards private labels as well as ways to measure them From that point, they would deploy efficient market research projects as well as give solutions to improve private label images and/or store image to their clients
− To marketing researchers and students: this study would somehow draw an empirical study on the role of store attributes on consumer attitudes towards private labels It is a useful reference for researchers and/or students who would have deeper studies on this subject in Vietnam.
Research question
The research problem is addressed in the following question:
How do store attributes influence consumer attitudes towards private labels in terms of Metro Cash and Carry Vietnam?
Private labels chosen to examine here are Metro private labels, based on the well- known brands by consumers; including Aro, Fine Food, H-Line, Luxana, Horeca Select, Sigma, Fairline, Authentic, L.Lambertazzi, Rioba, Watson and Tarrington House
According to Chowdhury et al (1998), there are six attributes of the store: product variety, product quality, price, service, atmosphere and convenience The research uses these attributes to test their influence on consumer attitudes towards private labels and they are called independent variables There are twenty-four items in which variety (3 items), quality (5 items), price (3 items), service (5 items), atmosphere (5 items) and convenience (3 items) And the dependent variable “consumer attitude” consists 6 items
There are six hypotheses developed to test the role of store attributes on consumer attitudes towards private labels:
(H1): Product variety positively influences consumer attitudes towards private labels (H2): Product quality positively influences consumer attitudes towards private labels (H3): Price positively influences consumer attitudes towards private labels
(H4): Service positively influences consumer attitudes towards private labels (H5): Store atmosphere positively influences consumer attitudes towards private labels (H6): Convenience positively influences consumer attitudes towards private labels The questionnaire is built base on these hypotheses (see Appendix C) And the five- point Likert scales with the anchors from strongly disagree (1) to strongly agree (5) are used to measure the items in the study This approach would simplify data entry and interpretation, as higher scores mean higher ratings.
Structure of the thesis
This dissertation is organized in five chapters The introduction chapter outlines the research objectives and empirical significance of the study in line with a brief of research problem and hypotheses Some terminologies’ definitions and explanations are also provided in the next section, followed by the summary in the last part of the chapter
Chapter two presents the literature review, starts with an overview of retailer motivations for which private labels are introduced Also does retailer positioning of these brands provide in a brief, followed by an another deep discussion of the relationship between store attributes and private labels as well as the effects of store attributes on consumer attitudes towards private labels
Chapter three develops the methodology that is used to collect and analyze the data for the research In line with the quantitative methodology to be followed, six hypotheses are developed in the association between store attributes and private labels Research methods used to collect and measure the data include the development of the scales, questionnaire design and data collection The data is also to be collected using an intercept survey and a self-administered questionnaire
Chapter four summarizes the result of data analysis, including the qualitative examination through focus group, respondent profiles and the quantitative examination through questionnaire of which presented descriptive statistics results, the assessment of reliability, validity and the results of the hypothesis tests The examination indicates that most of store variables which hypothesized to affect consumer attitudes towards hypotheses are tested using multiple regression analysis According to the result, consumer attitudes are strongly affected by perceptions of store attributes in reference of product quality, price, service, atmosphere and convenience, except product variety
Chapter five presents significance of findings, the implications for researchers and managers and limitations of the study as well as opens new trends of further research
The research concludes that store attributes play an important role in consumer attitudes towards private labels, and that private label positioning should be uniquely related to the unique positioning of the store Concurrently, investment in the store atmosphere could have a positive impact on consumers’ perceptions about private label quality Above all, the retailers are suggested to implement other marketing decisions than store attributes to attract new buyers of private labels and to increase their negotiation powers to manufacturers Albeit the scale and scope limited with only two stores in HCMC of Metro Cash and Carry Vietnam examined, the study opens further areas for the additional research in the future.
Definitions
Since the private label is a new concept in Vietnam, it’s necessary to have an explanation of what that term is and how it is used in this study Private labels are defined as consumer products that are designed, produced, controlled by, and which carry the name of the store or a name owned by the store; also known as store brands or dealer brands (Supply Chain Insight, 2007) An example would be MCCVN’s
“Aro” products Sometimes we see another terms used for private labels such as own brands, own labels (Fraser, 2009), house brands, distributor brands According to MCCVN, private labels are called own brands And they are defined as private labels handled by modern retailers whose goods and/or services are produced by themselves and/or a multiple third parties It can be named by the retailer’s name, or a separate private labels while Woolworth includes both Signature Range and Woolworths Select brands
Moreover, the term “retail brand” or “retailer brand” may either refer to the overall brand or name of the retailer Also, generics are one kind of private labels that refer to no-name, unbranded or brand-free products They are usually packaged in white or single color surroundings with minimum required product information listed on the package with price set well under the brands’ In fact, there is unofficially agreed terminology for private labels and other terms to be used in the literature, although they all refer to the same phenomenon (Fraser, 2009) For the purposes of this study, the term private labels is used to comprise all different private label types and various terms used for them
The national brand is another considered terminology That is the brand name of a product distributed nationally under a brand name owned by the producer or distributor, as opposed to local brands (products distributed only in some areas of the country), and private label brands (products that carry the brand of the retailer rather than the producer (en.wikipedia.org/wiki/National_brand) such as Head and Shoulders, Omo, P/S, Coca-Cola, X-men, Minh Long ceramics… These products are also sold in supermarkets but their brands don’t belong to stores.
Scope of the study
Since Vietnam is in the first stage of private label establishment and development, the findings would differ from other countries with which the variety of private label development level as well as the difference of retail concentration and consumer attitudes The important point should be underlined is MCCVN’s customer types Only one kind of its customer types (SCO) is examined The stores chosen in the research are MCCVN’s stores (An Phu and Hiep Phu in HCMC) to examine consumer attitudes towards its private labels As a result, the findings may not be typically general results to all MCCVN's stores nationwide, to other stores outside MCCVN system in Vietnam (for example Big C, Coopmart, Maximark…) and to all private labels.
Summary
The chapter is divided intro 10 sections to introduce the basis of the dissertation
Starting with a brief background, the research question and hypotheses are set out The next section outlines the theory bodies which would be reviewed deeply in the chapter two, together with the methodology, which would be treated as a large part to be discussed separately in the chapter three Then the outline of the whole dissertation is clearly drawn to easier follow up its flow of deployment The private label and national brand definitions are provided as useful contributions The last part identifies the delimitations of the study Base on the address of the research question “How do store attributes influence consumer attitudes towards private labels in terms of MCCVN?”, the study begins in detail with the chapter two of relevant literature review.
LITERATURE REVIEW AND HYPOTHESES
Introduction
Recognizing the more and more importance of private labels to both retailers and national brand manufacturers, as well as the variation of their market penetration from countries to countries, retailers to retailers, categories to categories… as mentioned in the chapter one, there are numbers of private label literature streams to examine the consumers, retailers and market factors for their success According to Grewal et al
(1998), positive store attributes are considered as some of key factors for retailers to achieve and sustain their success in an increasingly competitive marketplace Retailers who manage their image effectively can influence consumers’ store patronage decisions and improve their competitiveness Similarly, private labels - that are unique to the store - may increase consumer traffic, generate greater store loyalty and contribute to profitability (Dick et al 1996)
In the marketing literature store attributes are identified and studied by many researchers In line with those studies, this chapter would base of the previous empirical studies of Dodd and Lindley (2003); Beyza and Leyla (2007) and Fraser
(2009) to dig into the influence of a set of store attributes on consumers’ perceptions of private labels
The first part of this literature review presents private labels’ motivations and benefits to retailers Those explain why retailers try to introduce private labels in the role of not merchants but marketers Following is the evolution and repositioning of private labels
Subsequently, the next two parts outline store attributes in line with the effect of store attributes on consumer attitudes towards private labels Main outcomes from these literature reviews is also summarized before the research question once again indicated in the final section to thoroughly develop in the following chapters.
Retailer motivations for private labels
Retailers always try to increase as much gross margin as possible in doing business
However, the competition among retailers on the same national brands depresses retailers’ margin emergence They thus have to find out another way to easier control their margin Base on industry sources, to Hoch and Banerji (1993), gross margin to retailers on private labels is from 20 to 30 percent higher than on national brands (To MCCVN, private labels’ gross margin is set 10-20% higher averagely) On the other hand, the market share taken by private labels also creates actual or potential threats to national brand manufacturers, enhances retailers’ bargaining power as well as lessens wholesales prices of national brand products (MCCVN – Ownbrand training_v2.ppt)
This finding has largely been confirmed in private label literature The manufacturers in this case may response depending on consumer loyalty to national brands (Gabrielsen and Sorgard, 2007)
While gross margin is one of the earliest reasons for retailers to introduce private labels, another key motivation is to create competitive advantage through store differentiation By offering products unique to the stores, the retailers expect to enhance store patronage and store loyalty (eg Quelch and Harding, 1996) However, there are mixed evidences on whether store loyalty is created by private labels in practice Some confirm that private labels do create store loyalty According to Richards et al (2007), private labels play an important role in attracting consumers from other retailers Similarly, Anselmsson and Johansson (2007) report that the more private labels bought, the more loyal consumers are to the store Sudhir and Talukdar
(2004) study that store patronage is enhanced through store differentiation by private labels while Corstjens and Lal (2000) find that high-quality private labels create store loyalty and differentiation through consumer “inertia” (Fraser, 2009)
Private labels are also proved to compete with leading national brands by creating brand loyalty It means that market share is taken by private labels from national brands Private label brand loyalty, nevertheless, is determined at least in part by store loyalty.
The evolution and repositioning of private labels
Laaksonen and Reynolds (1994) develop a typology showing how retailers have repositioned their retail brands over time According to this typology, private labels tend to evolve through four stages or “generations” The first generation is lower quality and low price – “generics”, while the next generation comprises private labels of slightly higher quality but still lower quality than national brands, where price is still important The next stage of development is third generation – “me too” private labels of comparable quality to national brands but which have slightly lower prices than national brands and are perceived as value for money The more advanced fourth generation private labels offer innovative, unique products of the same or better quality than national brands and prices that are equal to or higher than national brand leaders
While this typology is developed largely in relation to developments in the United Kingdom and Europe, retailers in North America have also started to introduce private labels of equal or even better quality than national brands although still at lower prices (Quelch and Harding, 1996).
The store attributes
Knowing which attributes of the store contribute positively to consumer attitudes towards private labels can provide retailers strategic advantages By investing in those specific attributes, they can gain the advantage of store on the one hand and on the other hand transfer these positive attributes to consumer attitudes towards their private labels, by which private labels are generally perceived as low quality compared to the national brands (Dick et al 1996) A private label can be successful in one category whereas not in other category This may be because of the variances in promotional activities, design of package, and the perceived quality of private labels in different product categories
Store attributes are regarded as critical subjects to the retail success because of their influences They are believed to have positive impacts on store patronage behavior and hence profitability (Hansen and Solgaard, 2004) In order to maintain and enhance retailers’ positions under today’s tough competition environment, retailers can use store attributes as strategic tools, which have a positive effect on profitability and store performance Additionally, store attributes can increase the consumers’ likelihood to shop in the store again, length of stay in the store and quantity of purchase (Fraser,
Within the scope of this study, store attributes are adapted from the related literature (Chowdhury et al., 1998; Dodd and Lindley, 2003) Store attributes thus commonly mentioned by those studies are product variety, product quality, price, store atmosphere, employee service and location/convenience.
The relationship between store attributes and consumer attitudes towards private
Consumer inferences about the quality of merchandise (brands) and service are antecedents of the store Meanwhile, they discover some factors that have effects on private labels As confirmed, favorable store atmosphere in relating to store design not only increases favorable perceptions of merchandise quality but also leads consumers to believe that merchandise price is higher Furthermore, the store assortment (variety) is also another factor that offers consumers the convenience of one-stop shopping to purchase products with wide cross-categories (Ailawadi and Keller, 2004) As confirmed by Sayman and Raju (2004), the bigger the number of private labels present in the store, the more favorable the consumers regard the private labels in a given category
On the other hand, the store reputation is a cue to product quality Following the findings of Grewal et al (1998), store name positively affects on the store and store attributes till their turns affect on purchase intentions for a product However, consumers’ purchase decisions are not only rely on the store name but also the brand name and price because of wide competing products sold over a broad quality range while the retailer reputation is not specific to a product quality
Consumer perceived quality of private labels is often examined in the literature within the context of perceived risks There is an extended model of risk which is also relevant to private labels In this model, consumers assess their overall perceived risks based on prior knowledge, involvement, purchase goals and usage, uncertainty and consequences relating to relevant product attributes The product attributes in turn are linked to functional, monetary, social, and psychological risks These risks can be defined in terms of potential losses: the functional risk relates to the potential loss resulting from inadequate product quality, the financial or monetary risk relates to the potential financial loss resulting from a bad purchase, while the social risk relates to the potential loss of image or prestige resulting from the purchase or use of a product, especially if used in public
There are reciprocal influences between store attributes and private labels Citing from Semejin et al (2004), consumer perceptions of private labels are influenced by their judgment of store attributes And store attributes can play a role of “risk reducer” by reducing functional and psychosocial risks associated with buying private labels in certain categories or according to Liu and Wang (2008), store attributes are strong
2.6 The effects of store attributes on consumer attitudes towards private labels
Summary
This chapter would outline the relationship between store attributes and private labels as well as verifying the effects of store attributes on consumer attitudes towards private labels First of all, retailer motivations for private labels and store attributes are introduced Also the relationship and effects of store attributes on consumer attitudes towards private labels are latterly discussed in depth, along with relevant hypotheses interpretation
Stemming from the expectations of increasing margin as much as possible and creating competitive advantage through the store differentiation, retailers would urge private label introduction They would also improve their bargaining power, enhance store patronage and store loyalty to lead to an alternative solution for national brands by creating brand loyalty as well The retailers have changed their positioning strategy from merchants to marketers And the private labels have been positioned through four stages, from generics with low both quality and price to premium quality ones with innovations
Along with this development, the effect of store attributes on private labels is more and more clear-cut It is considered as “risk reducer” by reducing functional and psychosocial risks It also has a positive association with specific private labels in consumer minds and affects on the consumer decision of private label purchase through its six attributes: product variety, product quality, price, store atmosphere, employee service and location/convenience As confirmed by Sayman and Raju
(2004), the bigger the number of private labels present in the store, the more favorable the consumers regard the private labels in a given category.
The research gap
Most of studies on private labels are examined in United States and European markets
They are rarely made for not-well established markets or in early stage of development markets as Vietnam Stemming from this limitation, in this study, store attributes’ effects on private label products is investigated in the context of food and non-food categories, specifying to private labels of Metro Cash and Carry Vietnam.
METHODOLOGY
Introduction
The previous chapter presented the literature review and the conceptual model In this chapter, the purpose is to describe the research methodology used to collect the data to test the model and hypotheses
The chapter includes three sections in which the first one is the introduction, followed by the research methodology, consisting also of the development of measurement scale, questionnaire design, measurement, data collection and sample size and type
The data handling and analysis are mentioned later on The last part is the summary of the chapter.
Research Methodology
The research comprised two phases, a pilot study (qualitative examination of the data through focus group) and a main survey (quantitative examination of the data through questionnaire) These phases were both deployed in Ho Chi Minh City, the principal business center of Vietnam Private label products chosen here were MCCVN's own brands which had wide range of product assortment, including both food and non-food categories The methodology used qualitative and quantitative approaches and statistical analysis of data collection through a convenient consumer survey to test hypotheses empirically
The pilot study was undertaken by using the technique of focus group of eight given private label prone consumers with ages from 26 to 33 Its results were thus used to modify and refine the scale items
The main survey was conducted mainly through face-to-face survey at Metro An Phu (District 2) & Hiep Phu (District 12) and a very small part through online questionnaire Instructions of how to complete the questionnaire were provided with the note that all answers respected (there were no wrong or right ones mentioned) The purpose of this main survey was to assess the scales and test the models
3.2.1 The development of the scales
The scales used to measure store attributes were based as far as possible on those developed by Dodd and Lindley (2003) Those scales in turn were derived from measures identified in Chowdhury et al (1998) study which was outlined in chapter two The measuring scale used is the five-point Likert scales with the anchors from strongly disagree (1) to strongly agree (5) The items evaluated the following attributes: product variety (3 items), product quality (5 items), price (3 items), service (5 items), store atmosphere (5 items) and convenience (3 items)
Those items were adapted from previous studies of store attributes and listed in the following table 2 In addition, product category of the purchased private labels (food, non-food), and socio-demographic variables (age, gender, education, income) were also considered in the questionnaire
Table 2: The item list of store attributes
VA-1 MCCVN carries many brands
VA-2 MCCVN has a large variety of products
VA-3 MCCVN is one-stop solution for everything I need
QA-1 MCCVN sells only high quality products
QA-2 MCCVN products are fresh
QA-4 I can count on the products I buy at MCCVN being excellent
QA-5 I'm satisfied with the products I bought at MCCVN
PR-1 I can buy products for less at MCCVN
PR-2 I get value for my money at MCCVN
PR-3 The prices at MCCVN are fair
SV-1 MCCVN employees are friendly
SV-2 MCCVN employees are helpful
SV-3 The service of MCCVN is professional
SV-4 I am pleased with the service I receive at MCCVN
SV-5 Sales promotions are attractive
AP-1 The appearance of MCCVN is appealing
AP-2 I like music played in the store
AP-3 I like colors used in the store
AP-4 MCCVN is always clean
CV-1 MCCVN is not too far from my house
CV-2 I can go for shopping at MCCVN frequently
CV-3 I like shopping at MCCVN
According to Churchill and Iacobucci (2002), the reliability of a scale increased with the number of items used to measure it The result was thus a scale of store attributes comprising six main variables: product variety, product quality, price, service, atmosphere and convenience, consisting of twenty-four items (multi- item variables)
The measuring tool for store attributes was a self-administered questionnaire, of which a copy listed in the Appendix C There were five parts included in the attributes (the independent variables) and consumer attitudes towards MCCVN's private labels (the dependent variables) correspondingly The respondents were required to circle their answer numbered from (1) to (5) on the five-point Likert scale
The third section was drawn to find out participants’ percentage of spend at different stores It was included in the original study to check if attitudes were affected by the store respondents shopped at most The next section kept checking the share between MCCVN's private labels vs other supermarkets’ or hypermarkets’ private labels and national brands The following section verified consumer percentage spends on food/ non-food private label products The last part was to get participants’ information to enable demographic profiles of respondents as well as to check whether they were right consumer type to concentrate on It was also to investigate somehow the relations between private labels prone purchase and demographic characteristics as previously mentioned in chapter two
With respect to the type of scales used to measure the items in the study, the five-point Likert scales, anchored by (1) strongly disagree and (5) strongly agree, were used to measure store attributes This approach would simplify data entry and interpretation, as higher scores mean higher ratings Respondents would be required to circle the number on the five-point Likert scales to indicate their opinions on each statement
The questionnaire would be completed by direct approaching consumer randomly after their shopping at the Metro store exit gate then asking for their self-completion Instructions of how to complete the questionnaire were provided by the interviewers as well Some would be collected through emailing but limited to prevent its limitation of misunderstanding or non-answering questions This multi-sampling frame would create chance to approach more respondents than intercept survey that concentrating only on consumers shopping at the store on the designated day and time
The two stores selected were in Metro store chain and in relatively close proximity to each other within Ho Chi Minh City of Vietnam It meaned they have similar socio-economics profiles, and respondents were not too far to have too different perceptions on stores and products Pursuant to Bell et al (1998), location also played a major role in store choice Finally, the survey was intended to complete in two weeks with the support of MCCVN store staff at
An Phu and Hiep Phu
Since multiple regression was used to test the hypotheses relating to the effect of store attributes on consumer attitudes towards private labels, high sample size enabled lower value of R 2 for a hypothesized relationship to be identified as statistical significance at a chosen significant level
On the other hand, sample size also affected the result generalization In exploratory factor analysis (Hair et al., 2006), we had: n = 5t Where: n: size of sample t: number of items
In the current research, there were six independent variables with 24 items examined, or the size of sample should be equal to 120 (n = 5*24 = 120)
However, according to Tabachnick (2007), in multiple regression, we had: n ≥ 8m + 50 Where: n: size of sample m: number of independent variables
The statistically significant level of sample size was the maximum between the exploratory factor analysis and the multiple regression, or preferably 120 There were two stores to be applied multiple regression analysis, with reference to unusable responses and missing data, the sample size was finally set at 125 per each store, or total sample size was of 250.
Summary
The chapter described the methodology that was used to collect and analyze the data for the research In line with the pilot study (a qualitative examination of the data through focus group), the main survey (a quantitative examination of the data through questionnaire) was conducted at Metro An Phu & Hiep Phu and a small part through online questionnaire Followings were the development of the scales, questionnaire design, the measurement and data collection The data was to be collected using an intercept survey and a self-administered questionnaire Sampling control issues were discussed after that The desired size of the sample – 250 shoppers – was explained in terms of statistical power and generalization.
DATA ANALYSIS
Introduction 29 4.2 Preliminarily qualitative examination of the data through focus group (pilot study)29
This chapter presents the results of the statistical analysis of the collected data, following the methodology outlined in Chapter 3 The primary purpose of this chapter is to present the results as they relate to the hypotheses of the study, which were tested using multiple regression analysis after preliminarily qualitative research through focus group The data is then examined for reliability and validity in terms of the scales used in the research The final section of the chapter discusses the results of the statistical analyses used to test the hypotheses
4.2 Preliminarily qualitative examination of the data through focus group (pilot study)
Stemming from the difference in culture, consuming habits and the degree of economic development among countries, the scale was decided to be tested through focus group to fit in well with Vietnamese environment
This research was thus executed to explore, adjust and amend the store variables as well as their relevant items which were established in chapter three It used the technique of focus group of eight given private label prone consumers with ages from
26 to 33 It was carried out in Ho Chi Minh City August 2010
There were six constructs to be used in the research that were also six attributes of the store: variety, abbreviated to VA, with 3 items (VA-1 to VA-3); quality (QA) with 5 items (QA-1 to QA-5); price (PR) with 3 items (PR-1 to PR-3); service (SV) with 5 items (SV-1 to SV-5); atmosphere (AP) 5 items (AP-1 to AP-5) and convenience (CV) with 3 items (CV-1 to CV-3) They were all measured by the 5-point Likert interval- scaled measurement
According to the consumers from focus group, there were two adjustments listed below, the rest was acceptable and understandable:
− The first screening question “Do you have Metro member card?” was changed to
“Have you ever shopped at Metro?” It was from the fact that one Metro member card could be used for maximum three people to enter the gate at the same time
There are numbers of people who don’t have Metro member card but they sometime shop at Metro
− With the main questions, one more statement called AP-6 “Merchandising at MCCVN helps easily finding products” was added Most of members in the focus group agreed that Metro was large with thousands of items, the skilled product arrangement on shelves was important to attract consumers
The total independent variables were thus 25 instead of 24 Through qualitative measurement, the consumers agreed that the Metro store was influenced by six attributes mentioned above: variety, quality, price, service, atmosphere and convenience The research therefore would be tested by regression analysis that presented in the following section
The questionnaire had been administered by partly online through https://spreadsheets.google.com/viewform?hl=enandplindformkeyYeWlheUl tZHdMbUc4UHhjSVJsaGc6MQ#gid=0 However, because of the filter conditions of the survey (Selected consumers were persons that have been shopped at Metro and have used Metro private labels Even if they have used Metro private labels, they might not recognize that because of either their neglect or no concept of such new topic as private labels), there were only thirty-four people participated in the online survey In order to achieve 250 samples, it was decided to do face-to-face survey at An Phu and Hiep Phu stores (Metro stores in District 2 and District 12) on a sample of 280 Metro consumers interviewed from August 9 to August 25, 2010 The number of survey sample was higher than the given sample number of 250 to prevent misunderstanding or non-answering questions or any possible response bias This survey was completed with the support of four university graduates and a Metro colleague To university graduates, half-day training was conducted with introduction about Metro, its private labels and the survey questionnaire as well as ways to approach and interview consumers (see appendix D – the interview toolkits) The respondents were selected at random and surveyed after they had finished their shopping in the store The response rate in the current study was estimated at around 70% Many shoppers did not wish to participate in the survey after finishing their shopping Anecdotally, those waiting for their cars or motorbikes and those with large grocery purchases were less willing to participate In summary, the total participants were 292 in which 70% were women with income most less than or equal to vnd5,000,000
The demographic profile of all respondents was provided in table 3, including interests in gender, age, income and education
Table 3: Demographic profile of all respondents
Most of people participated in the survey were in age of 18-34 (61%) and 35-49 (27%)
Those earned monthly less than or equal to vnd5,000,000 occupied 64% while those with monthly earning from vnd5,000,000 to vnd10,000,000 accounted for 24% and the very little got higher income (12%) With respect to education, most of people were university graduates (~37%) while those were housewife and college graduates were respectively similar in size with 29 and 26 percent Most of shoppers spent less than one fourth for private label products In addition, two thirds of all private label prone consumers preferred buying non-food category (detergents, cleaning materials…) to food category (milk, pulses, delicatessen, sugar, yoghurt etc.).
Quantitative examination of the data through questionnaire
The central tendency and dispersion of the interval-scaled variables were examined by calculating the means and standard deviations for consumer scores for both store attributes and consumer attitudes towards private labels Table 4.1
& 4.2 (Descriptive statistics – see Appendix A) presented the descriptive statistics for the twenty-five items in the scale for the independent store variables and for the six items making up the dependent variable measuring consumer attitudes towards private labels
The distributions showed a satisfactory spread on the scales In the responses for questions of store attributes, the mean score was highest for “MCCVN was always clean” (AP-4: 4.33) and lowest for “I like music played in the store”
(AP-2: 3.38) However, standard deviation was relatively high in perceptions of convenience (1.02 – 1.23) In reference of six items measuring consumer attitudes towards private labels, the mean score was highest for “I get value for my money from MCCVN private label products” (AT-2: 3.31) and lowest for
“MCCVN private labels were my first choices upon shopping at MCCVN” (AT- 5: 2.49) The standard deviation indicated that consumers’ opinions differed most for “I like MCCVN private label products” (AT-1: 0.80) and differed least for both “MCCVN private labels were my first choices upon shopping at MCCVN” and “Overall MCCVN private label products were excellent” (0.69)
The skewness and kurtosis figures beyond the range of plus and minus one indicated that some variables had moderately non-normal distributions
According to Hair et al (2006), with samples smaller than 50, and especially those smaller than 30, significant departures from normality could have a substantial impact on results However, the larger samples size the less effects of non-normality on results and that the impact might be negligible for samples of 200 or more The sample size in this study was 292, larger than the threshold of sample size of 200 mentioned by Hair et al Therefore, it was considered that data transformations to obtain normality in all cases were not necessary
Reliability was assessed by examining internal consistency of the scales through inter-item correlations and item-total correlations as well as Cronbach alpha
Inter-item correlations should be greater than 0.30, item-total correlations should be greater than 0.50 and Cronbach alpha reliability coefficient should be 0.70 or higher (Hair et al, 2006)
The results of the reliability tests for both the store attributes and consumer attitudes towards private labels scales were shown in Table 5.1 & 5.2 (Reliability – see Appendix A) All had Cronbach alpha scores well above 0.70 (the lowest value was 0.775) and the inter-item correlations were above 0.30 (the lowest value was 0.319) as well as most of the item-total correlations were above 0.50, except the item “Sales promotions were attractive” (SV-5: 0.463)
These results therefore confirmed the internal consistency of these scales
Similarly, the scale of consumer attitudes towards private labels was tested, the Cronbach alpha was 0.847, the inter-item was well at 0.345 and all item-total correlations were above 0.50
Principal component analysis was applied to identify factors as showed in table 6.1, 6.2, 6.3 & 6.4 (EFA results – see Appendix A)
Conditions to test Pearson correlation coefficient: KMO>0.5, sig0.5, default eigenvalues>1 and total cumulative variance>50% According to the result, KMO=0.868>0.5; sig=0.0000.5; default eigenvalues halted at 1.116 and total cumulative variance = 64.007%>50%
The factor loadings showed the correlations between factors and variables One item was excluded (one item of service variable: SV-5) based on its insignificant correlated with other items in multi-items variable of atmosphere
Further more, once excluding this item, the Cronbach alpha on the table 5.1 (Reliability: Store attributes – see Appendix A) could increase from 0.849 to 0.864 The Pearson correlation results therefore were: KMO=0.864>0.5; sig=0.0000.5; default eigenvalues halted at 1.113 and total cumulative variance = 64.740%>50%
The regression analysis was performed to test the hypotheses with the results given in table 7.1 & 7.2 (Regression analysis – see Appendix A)
The following formula illustrates the relationships that were tested:
Y = attitudes towards private labels α = intercept (the constant) β1 = slope coefficient of the independent store variable, variety X1 = score of the independent store variable, variety β2 = slope coefficient of the independent store variable, quality X2 = score of the independent store variable, quality β3 = slope coefficient of the independent store variable, price X3 = score of the independent store variable, price β4 = slope coefficient of the independent store variable, service
X4 = score of the independent store variable, service β5 = slope coefficient of the independent store variable, atmosphere X5 = score of the independent store variable, atmosphere β6 = slope coefficient of the independent store variable, convenience X6 = score of the independent store variable, convenience ε = the random error associated with the prediction of Y
The relationship was statistically significant (F = 14.409, p = 0.000), with the value of adjusted R 2 (0.217) indicating that 21.7 percent of the variance in consumer attitudes towards private labels was explained by the combined effect of the store variables The consumer attitudes towards private labels were regressed on the store attributes of quality, price, service, atmosphere and convenience (p < 0.05) or quality, price, service, atmosphere and convenience of store attributes affected consumer attitudes towards private labels of Metro The more highly a consumer thought of quality, price, service, atmosphere and convenience, the more positively she/he would evaluate private labels H2, H3, H4, H5 and H6 were therefore supported by the data On the other hand, variety attributes of the store had no effect on the consumer attitudes towards private labels and hypothesis H1 was thus rejected
Hypotheses and their status were summarized in Table 8
H1 Product variety positively influences consumer attitudes towards private labels
H2 Product quality positively influences consumer attitudes towards private labels
H3 Price positively influences consumer attitudes towards private labels
H4 Service positively influences consumer attitudes towards private labels
H5 Store atmosphere positively influences consumer attitudes towards private labels
H6 Convenience positively influences consumer attitudes towards private labels
Summary
This section would summarize the result of data analysis presented in the chapter, including qualitative examination through focus group, respondent profiles and the quantitative examination through questionnaire of which presented descriptive statistics results, the assessment of reliability, validity and the results of the hypothesis tests
One more item of atmosphere had been added, increased the total number of independent variables to 25 Through qualitative measurement, the consumers agreed that the Metro store was influenced by six attributes mentioned: variety, quality, price, service, atmosphere and convenience The official survey had been done by partly online and mostly at the gate of Metro An Phu (District 2) and Hiep Phu (District 12) with the support of four student graduates and one Metro colleague And the five-point Likert scales with the anchors from strongly disagree (1) to strongly agree (5) were used to measure the items in the study Finally, the total number of participants was
292 in which 70% were women with income most less than or equal to vnd5,000,000
The data examination indicated that most of the distributions for the interval-scaled items were spread satisfactorily over the scales, except one service item (SV-5) had independent variables of the store were significantly correlated with attitude dependent variable, stating that the store variables which hypothesized to affect consumer attitudes towards private labels were related Six hypotheses were tested using multiple regression analysis Most of hypotheses were supported by the data while hypothesis H1 was rejected
The result however would differ from the original study In the original studies of Chowdhury et al (1998) and Collins-Dodd & Lindley (2003), the attribute of product variety accepted and convenience attribute ignored But in the current study, the convenience attribute contributed significantly while product variety attribute rejected
Finally, according to the result, consumer attitudes were strongly affected by perceptions of store attributes in reference of product quality, price, service, atmosphere and convenience This analysis was also aligned with the research report executed for Coopmart in 2006 about Coopmart re-branding and Coopmart potential consumers analysis (Axis, 2006) And the summary of hypothesis status was presented in table 6.1, 6.2, 6.3 & 6.4 (EFA results – see Appendix A).
CONCLUSIONS AND IMPLICATIONS
Introduction
The primary purpose of this research is to examine the association between consumer perceptions of store attributes and consumer attitudes towards private labels It is examined in Vietnam market, where private labels are limited and where the market for private labels is at an earliest stage of development It therefore would contribute an empirical study about the influence of store attributes on the consumer attitudes towards private labels, explored specifically to Metro Cash and Carry Vietnam The research also seeks to contribute further insights for researchers and practitioners alike in terms of retailer and private label positioning
This chapter discusses the findings arising from the research, comparing them with those of the original study and placing them within the context of the broader literature
Conclusions are then drawn about the research question Implications for researchers and marketing practitioners are then discussed, followed by an outline of limitations of the research as well as areas for the further research An overall conclusion for the dissertation is provided in the final section.
Significance of findings
The research finds that consumer perceptions of store attributes and consumer attitudes towards private labels are positively associated, as found in the original study In other words, the more positively consumers view a store, the more positively they judge the store’s private labels This finding is an answer to the research question “How does store attributes influence consumer attitudes towards private labels in terms of Metro Cash and Carry Vietnam?” Semeijn et al.‘s (2004) comprehensive study of the effect of store attributes on consumer attitudes towards private label reported similar findings
From a broader perspective, the store attributes literature also supports the link between store attributes and perceptions of brands carried by the store This outcome highlights the importance of store attributes and positioning in a competitive environment (Hansen and Solgaard, 2004) The store should be strongly positioned base on its key attributes that highly affect on private labels: product quality, price, service, atmosphere and convenience Since each retailer has a different store positioning, such as Metro in compare with Coopmart or Maximark or Big C, the research thus could conclude that private label images are uniquely related to the unique positioning of stores; and that the influence of store attributes on consumer attitudes towards private labels differs from retailers
There are five hypotheses supported, including quality, price, service, atmosphere and convenience The variety attribute is rejected In other words, consumer attitudes towards private labels are affected by store attributes including quality, price, service, atmosphere and convenience This result is supported by other studies that find private labels continue suffer from poor quality perceptions but offer value for money It is also likely to indicate that the perceived consumer risks are relative high in compare with national brands, since risks play an important role in consumer evaluation of the quality of private labels And familiarity with private labels has an important effect on consumer attitudes towards private label in terms of perceived quality and risk (Dick et al., 1996) The service attribute of the store continues affect consumer attitudes towards private labels In Metro, Western service style is applied instead of Asian service style in which consumers feel more comfortable and freer in goods selections These findings are as alike as Axis conclusions on Western service style preferred much to Asian service style; on convenience attribute in which “close to consumers’ houses” much favored; on product variety in which “one-stop solution” has a preference (Axis, 2006); and on price in which “value for money” is a like
The variety attribute of the store is rejected According to consumers, it seems obviously to have large variety of products in supermarkets Metro is considered as a supermarket to most of consumers or as one-stop solution to consumers Variety therefore is rejected to have influence on consumer attitudes towards private labels
Finally, the research contributes by investigating private labels in a market where limited research has been done to date and by adding to the relatively few studies which have been undertaken outside markets in the United States and Europe.
Implications for theory
The study raises a number of implications for researchers First, since store attributes have been shown to be a predictor of consumer attitudes towards private labels, it would be useful to include these variables in studies examining consumer attitudes towards, and preference for, private labels in order to enhance the explanatory power of models developed Secondly, researchers should be aware that the reverse relationship may also hold, in other words private labels may influence the store positioning in the minds of consumers (Dodd and Lindley, 2003) This also leads to another important implication for researchers to use private labels to contribute to the store differentiation since consumer attitudes towards private labels were associated with unique store positioning
Next, the results of the study highlight the importance of price, service, atmosphere and convenience on consumer evaluations of private labels, as well as present the preferred Western service style to Asian service style, which most of those Metro has advantages in compare with rivals’, except convenience
Finally, the quality of products carried by the store is a critical determinant of consumer attitudes towards the store’s private labels According to Ailawadi and Keller
(2004), national brands carried by the store can also serve as an important cue for consumer perceptions of private labels.
Managerial implications
The findings of the study have implications for retailers in terms of private label strategies The positive association that exists in most cases between store attributes and consumer attitudes towards private labels suggests that retailers should specifically consider aspects of the store that are relevant to the private labels they offer, when designing activities to develop and enhance unique store positioning The finding also suggests that retailers should work to ensure that there is an appropriate “fit” between consumer perceptions of the store and positioning of their private labels In this regard, if retailers have more than one private label spanning different price tiers, then it is especially important to ensure there is no dissonance between the image of the store and any of the private labels The research also shows the relevance of the implementation of strategies oriented to store improvements As presented, investments in the store atmosphere could have a positive impact on consumers’ perceptions about the private label quality
Further more, the retailers should also implement other marketing decisions than store attributes to attract new buyers of private labels, such as if possible “trial of private labels in the store” which is found to benefit the perceived quality of private labels positively, or upgrade their private labels’ packages and designs In addition, in order to reduce the functional risk perceived by the consumers, retailers can put more information on the private label’s packages about their ingredients and performance
Furthermore, advertising may help retailers by transmitting the perception of quality product Although these strategies may affect the cost and in turn the prices of the private labels, these may increase the consumers’ likelihood of purchasing private
Lastly, the reliance by consumers on national brands as cues for the private label quality suggests that retailers need to work on reducing consumer perceived risks that are commonly associated with private labels (Dick et al., 1996) One way of achieving this would be to adopt consistent positioning about the quality of private labels and ensure the consumer experience of private label quality is consistent over time (Hoch and Banerji, 1993)
For manufacturers, the finding relates to consumer reliance on the quality of national brands (the quality of products offered by the store) as cues for private label quality indicates that they should highlight the differences between their national brands and private labels, especially in terms of superior quality The quality variation between national brands and private labels is an important source of perceived risks for consumers in evaluating private labels (Hoch and Banerji, 1993) Manufacturers should also continue to emphasize image, however, for example through brand name and packaging, because studies show image is more important to consumers than intrinsic quality in comparisons of national brands and private labels (Dick et al., 1994)
For marketing companies and market research companies, the understanding on store attributes that significantly affect on consumer attitudes towards private labels as well as ways to measure them help deploying efficient market research projects and giving solutions to improve private label images and or store attributes to their clients.
Limitations of the research
Limitations of the research relate to the scales, and the scope of the study The scale of store attributes, while soundly bases in terms of the store literature, is confined to functional attributes There is a suggestion that a singular identity should be established for a store, bases not only on functional attributes but also on consumer attitudes, for example the store’s “personality” (Fraser, 2009) Store attributes could not overcome perceived risks (including functional risk, financial risk, social risk and psychological risk) To reduce these risks consumers most possibly prefer national brands to private labels as quality variance increase within a product category (Semeijn et al 2004)
Consequently the scale used in this study doesn’t account for more psychological aspects (attractiveness, luxuriousness…) of the store
With respect to the scope of the study, the main limitation is that only Metro Cash and Carry Vietnam investigated Since the property and private label strategy of the retailer, none of private labels carry Metro name Consequently the study doesn’t examine the effect of the store attributes on private labels carrying the store name, which is common in Europe where the development of the “store as the brand” concept is prominent and where private label penetration is relatively high It therefore couldn’t cover Coopmart’s situation where all its private labels contain its brand name Dhar and Hoch (1997) find that the use of the store name contributes to variances in retailer success with private labels, while Grunert et al (2006) report that consumer preference is for private labels to carry the store name rather than different brand names Selecting only one retailer with its two stores within Ho Chi Minh City also limits the geographic scope of the study Anecdotally, store owner-operators make brand selections to suit their local market; hence stores in different areas may place more or less emphasis on private labels than those in the current study
Further more, this research is done in a specific interval of months It is therefore unable to capture changes over time, for example changes in consumer attitudes towards private labels in response to further development of the private label market in Vietnam
Also, intrinsic cues (such as product performance, taste, smell) and extrinsic cues (package, price, and brand name) could have been measured In addition to intrinsic and extrinsic cues, other important store attributes that may affect consumer attitudes towards private labels such as the involvement of the store in community programs, customer profile, and customers’ general attitudes towards the store could be evaluated
Participants’ income and education level is mostly medium and university/college graduates respectively This study can be replicated in a larger sample to generate other levels of demographic variables In this study supermarket’s store attributes are measured, future research can overcome the mentioned limitations and replicate the study by a cross cultural research or/and in other types of stores such as convenience stores, specialty stores, hypermarkets Furthermore web-based stores’ image and its influence on its private labels can be evaluated
Finally, albeit several studies have indicated that category differences (food, non-food) help explain consumer attitudes towards private labels and preference (e.g Batra and Sinha, 2000; Dhar and Hoch, 1997), and the effect of store attributes on consumer attitudes towards private labels may also vary across categories, the current research is neither product-specific nor category-specific since it aims to assess consumer attitudes towards private labels in common.
Further research
The limitations outlined above indicate that further research would add to the understanding of the relationship between store attributes and consumer attitudes towards private labels First, the store scale could be adapted to include psychological variables relating to consumer attitudes towards the store Secondly, a longitudinal study would provide for the inclusion of changes in consumer attitudes over time, especially changes in response to private label market development or to other changes affecting the store attributes in the Vietnam market
Inclusion of further stores and private labels, in varying geographic locations, would enable the study of the relationship between store attributes and consumer attitudes towards private labels to take account of a wider range of retailer brand architectures
This could comprise, for example, private labels that carry the store names and/or specific private labels that are positioned differently within the store
A further area for additional research indicated by the results of the current study is the effect of national brands on evaluations of private labels in the store Ailawadi and Keller (2004) also note the relatively sparse body of research in this area Finally, category-specific research would add to the depth of understanding about the relationship between store attributes and consumer attitudes towards private labels, especially in regard to perceived risks.
Dissertation conclusions
The literature suggests that retailer differentiation is one of the key motivations for private labels Starting from generics, private labels spent four stages of generations to the last one of superior quality with innovative and unique products From an academic viewpoint, this study contributes by illustrating that the store attributes are major strategic tools in the highly competitive retailing environment Store attributes, including quality, price, service, atmosphere and convenience, play an important role in consumer attitudes towards private labels The more positively consumers view a store, the more positively they judge the store’s private labels However, private labels still suffer from poor quality perceptions but offer value for money since perceived consumer risks are still relative high in compare with national brands
For researchers, these findings suggest to include store variables in examining consumer attitudes to and preference for private labels as well as to use private labels to contribute to store differentiation For retailers, these findings lead to the need to examine the “fit” between store positioning and private label positioning In case of more than one private label spanning different price tiers, it is crucial to ensure no dissonance between store attributes and any of private labels The research also suggests that the quality of the store’s wider product assortment is an important extrinsic cue for consumer assessment of private label products Concurrently, investment in the store atmosphere could have a positive impact on consumers’ perceptions about private label quality Above all, the retailers are also suggested to not only improve store attributes but also implement other marketing decisions to attract new buyers of private labels and to increase their negotiation powers to manufacturers
For manufacturers, the findings indicate that they should highlight the differences between their national brands and private labels, especially in terms of superior quality
Further more, they should also continue to emphasize image, for example through brand name and packaging
Albeit limitations of scales (the research is based on functional attributes but not psychological aspect of the store), research time interval (unable to capture changes over time) and scope of the study (only MCCVN investigated with no private labels carried Metro name and geographic scope within HCMC; demographic levels with mostly medium and university/college graduates), the study opens further research in the future Not only store scales including psychological variables relating to consumer attitudes to the store, a longitudinal study would comprise the changes in consumer attitudes over time, but also more store types (convenience stores, specialty stores, hypermarkets, web-based stores…) and private label categories (food/ non-food, carrying/non-carrying store name and/or specific private labels…) as well as the effect of national brands on private labels in the store can raise topics for research in depth
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Table 4.1: Descriptive statistics – Store attributes
MCCVN has a large variety of products 4.28 0.83 -0.927 0.057
MCCVN is one-stop solution for everything I need 3.67 0.73 -0.274 0.223
MCCVN sells only high quality products 3.61 0.90 -0.228 -0.319
I can count on the products I buy at MCCVN being excellent 3.89 0.87 -0.468 -0.281
I'm satisfied with the products I bought at Metro Cash &
I can buy products for less at Metro Cash & Carry
I get value for my money at Metro Cash & Carry Vietnam 3.59 1.03 -0.374 -0.281
The prices at MCCVN are fair 3.51 0.97 -0.318 -0.165
The service of MCCVN is professional 3.66 0.98 -0.493 -0.111
I am pleased with the service I receive at Metro Cash &
The appearance of MCCVN is appealing 3.71 0.90 -0.282 -0.401
I like music played in the store 3.38 0.89 -0.178 -0.076
I like colors used in the store 3.72 0.86 -0.536 0.362
Merchandising at MCCVN helps easily finding products 3.92 0.92 -0.649 0.158
MCCVN is not too far from my house 3.58 1.23 -0.450 -0.856
I can go for shopping at MCCVN frequently 3.57 1.14 -0.382 -0.775
I like shopping at Metro Cash & Carry Vietnam 3.78 1.02 -0.473 -0.550 n = 292
Table 4.2: Descriptive statistics – Consumer attitudes
ATTITUDES TOWARDS PRIVATE LABELS Mean score
I like MCCVN private label products 3.17 0.80 -0.569 0.704
I get value for my money from MCCVN private label products 3.31 0.79 -0.231 0.298
My capability to buy MCCVN private label products is high 3.00 0.76 -0.284 0.505
I do believe to want to buy MCCVN private label products 2.92 0.73 -0.412 0.158 MCCVN private labels are my first choices upon shopping at
Overall MCCVN private label products are excellent 3.02 0.69 -0.526 0.636 n = 292
Note: All variables were measured using 5-point Likert scales, from 1 strongly disagree to 5 strongly agree
Inter-item correlations (lowest value)
Cronbach alpha if item deleted
MCCVN carries many brands MCCVN has a large variety of products MCCVN is one-stop solution for everything I need
MCCVN sells only high quality products MCCVN products are fresh
I can count on the products I buy at MCCVN being excellent I'm satisfied with the products I bought at MCCVN
I can buy products for less at MCCVN
I get value for my money at MCCVN The prices at MCCVN are fair
MCCVN employees are friendly MCCVN employees are helpful The service of MCCVN is professional
I am pleased with the service I receive at MCCVN Sales promotions are attractive
The appearance of MCCVN is appealing
I like music played in the store
I like colors used in the store MCCVN is always clean MCCVN is modern Merchandising at MCCVN helps easily finding products
MCCVN is not too far from my house
I can go for shopping at MCCVN frequently
Inter-item correlations (lowest value)
Cronbach alpha if item deleted
I like MCCVN private label products
I get value for my money from MCCVN private label products
My capability to buy MCCVN private label products is high
I do believe to want to buy MCCVN private label products MCCVN private label products are my first choices upon shopping at MCCVN
Overall MCCVN private label products are excellent
Table 6.1: EFA results – KMO result
Kaiser-Meyer-Olkin Measure of Sampling Adequacy 0.864
Table 6.2: EFA results – Communalities result
Extraction Method: Principal Component Analysis
Table 6.3: EFA results – Total variance explained
Extraction Method: Principal Component Analysis.
Table 6.4: EFA results – Rotated component matrix
Extraction Method: Principal Component Analysis
Rotation Method: Varimax with Kaiser Normalization. a Rotation converged in 6 iterations
Std Error of the Estimate
R Square Change F Change df1 df2 Sig F Change
1 0.482 a 0.233 0.217 0.88510358 0.233 14.409 6 285 0.000 a Predictors: (Constant), Conv, Atmo, Serv, Pric, Quali, Vari
Table 7.2: Regression analysis – Coefficients results
Model B Std Error Beta t Sig
APPENDIX B: MCCVN’S PRIVATE LABELS PORFOLIO
APPENDIX C-1: THE SURVEY QUESTIONNAIRE– TIẾNG VIỆT
1 Anh/chị đã bao giờ đi mua sắm ở Metro chưa? 1 ặ Nếu Cú, tiếp tục; Nếu Khụng, dừng Cảm ơn anh/chị đó tham gia cựng chỳng tụi
2 Anh/chị đã bao giờ sử dụng hàng nhãn hiệu riêng 2 của Metro chưa? ặ Nếu Cú, tiếp tục; Nếu Khụng, dừng Cảm ơn anh/chị đó tham gia cựng chỳng tụi
Hướng dẫn: Hãy đọc các phát biểu sau và khoanh tròn vào con số mà theo anh/chị là chính xác nhất để diễn tả yù kiến của anh/chị Chọn số 1 nghĩa là anh/chị rất không đồng yù và chọn số 5 nghĩa là anh/chị hoàn toàn đồng yù Anh/chị cũng có thể chọn bất kỳ con số nào trong khoảng giữa số 1 và số 5 để thể hiện mức độ đồng yù của anh/chị về vấn đề đó
1 Quan điểm của anh/chị như thế nào về hình ảnh của Metro?
Biến Diễn giải Rất không Hoàn toàn đồng yù đồng yù
VA-1 Metro có rất nhiều nhãn hiệu 1 2 3 4 5
VA-2 Metro có rất nhiều sản phẩm 1 2 3 4 5 VA-3 Tôi có thể mua hầu hết những thứ tôi cần ở Metro 1 2 3 4 5 QA-1 Metro chỉ bán những mặt hàng chất lượng cao 1 2 3 4 5 QA-2 Hàng hóa của Metro thì rất tươi and mới 1 2 3 4 5 QA-3 Tôi thích các sản phẩm có trong Metro 1 2 3 4 5 QA-4 Tôi tin sản phẩm tôi mua ở Metro là tốt 1 2 3 4 5 QA-5 Tôi cảm thấy hài lòng với những sản phẩm tôi mua được ở Metro 1 2 3 4 5 PR-1 Tôi mua được sản phẩm đáng với khoản tiền tôi bỏ ra tại Metro 1 2 3 4 5 PR-2 Tôi thấy tiết kiệm hơn khi mua sắm ở Metro 1 2 3 4 5
PR-3 Giá cả ở Metro là rẻ 1 2 3 4 5
SV-1 Nhân viên của Metro rất thân thiện 1 2 3 4 5 SV-2 Nhân viên của Metro rất nhiệt tình giúp đỡ 1 2 3 4 5 SV-3 Dịch vụ ở Metro rất chuyên nghiệp 1 2 3 4 5 SV-4 Tôi cảm thấy hài lòng với dịch vụ của Metro 1 2 3 4 5 SV-5 Các chương trình khuyến mãi bán hàng của Metro thật hấp dẫn 1 2 3 4 5 AP-1 Hình thức trưng bày tại Metro rất bắt mắt 1 2 3 4 5 AP-2 Tôi thích âm nhạc được sử dụng tại Metro 1 2 3 4 5 AP-3 Tôi thích màu sắc trang trí tại Metro 1 2 3 4 5 AP-4 Metro luôn luôn sạch sẽ 1 2 3 4 5
AP-5 Metro rất hiện đại 1 2 3 4 5
AP-6 Cách trưng bày hàng hóa tại Metro rất dễ tìm 1 2 3 4 5 CV-1 Metro không xa so với nhà của tôi 1 2 3 4 5
CV-2 Tôi có thể mua sắm thường xuyên tại Metro 1 2 3 4 5 CV-3 Tôi thích mua sắm tại Metro 1 2 3 4 5
2 Quan điểm của anh/chị như thế nào về sản phẩm thương hiệu riêng của Metro?2
Biến Diễn giải Rất không Hoàn toàn đồng yù đồng yù
Tôi thấy tiết kiệm hơn khi mua sản phẩm mang thương hiệu riêng của Metro 1 2 3 4 5
Tôi thích mua sản phẩm mang thương hiệu riêng của Metro hơn sản phẩm cùng loại mang nhãn hiệu khác 1 2 3 4 5 AT-4
Tôi tin rằng tôi muốn mua sản phẩm mang thương hiệu riêng của
AT-5 Sản phẩm mang thương hiệu riêng của Metro là sự lựa chọn đầu tiên của tôi 1 2 3 4 5
AT-6 Nói chung sản phẩm mang thương hiệu riêng của Metro là tốt 1 2 3 4 5
3 Anh/chị đi các siêu thị dưới đây trung bình bao nhiêu lần một tháng?
4 Nếu gọi mức độ chi tiêu của anh/chị là 100% (4/4), thì mức chi tiêu của anh/chị cho các sản phẩm thương hiệu riêng của các siêu thị khác nhau và cho các sản phẩm mang thương hiệu khác dưới đây là như thế nào? Đánh dấu 9 cho mức độ chi tiêu thích hợp của anh/chị:
Mô tả Không chi Chi dưới
1/4 Chi từ 1/4 tới 1/2 Chi từ 1/2 đến 3/4 Chi trên 3/4 Sản phẩm thương hiệu riêng của
Sản phẩm thương hiệu riêng của các siêu thị khác 3
Sản phẩm mang thương hiệu khác 4
5 Đánh giá mức trung bình chi tiêu (theo phần trăm) của anh/chị cho các sản phẩm thương hiệu riêng dưới hình thức thực phẩm/ phi thực phẩm như dưới đây:
Hàng thực phẩm có thương hiệu riêng
Hàng phi thực phẩm có thương hiệu riêng
6 Khoanh tròn con số có giá trị phù hợp nhất với anh/chị:
B Tổng thu nhập hàng tháng
1 1 Metro hiện là siêu thị bán sỉ duy nhất ở Việt Nam Anh/chị phải có thẻ thành viên Metro mới có thể vào mua sắm ở các kho Metro
2 2 Hàng hóa mang thương hiệu riêng của Metro ở Việt Nam hiện gồm các thương hiệu sau: Aro/ Fine Food/ H-Line/ Luxana/ Horeca Select/ Sigma/ Fairline/
Authentic/ L.Lambertazzi/ Rioba/ Watson và Tarrington House Đây là những sản phẩm thuộc quyền sở hữu và quản lí riêng của Metro (được gọi là sản phẩm mang thương hiệu riêng của Metro) Anh/chị chỉ có thể mua chúng tận gốc từ các kho của Metro mà thôi
3 3 Ngoài các sản phẩm mang thương hiệu riêng của Metro, các siêu thị khác cũng có các sản phẩm mang thương hiệu riêng của họ, như siêu thị Coopmart (có sản phẩm mang thương hiệu riêng Coopmart), Maximark (có Arluy) and Big C (có Wow…)…
4 4 Sản phẩm mang thương hiệu khác là các sản phẩm được tạo ra, quản lí, kiểm soát và thuộc quyền sở hữu của các công ty sản xuất như Head and Shoulders, Omo, P/S, Coca-Cola, X-men, gốm sứ Minh Long… Các sản phẩm này cũng được bày bán trong siêu thị nhưng không thuộc quyền sở hữu của siêu thị
Cảm ơn anh/chị rất nhiều vì đã tham gia trả lời bảng câu hỏi khảo sát này Chúc anh/chị một ngày vui vẻ và làm việc hiệu quả
APPENDIX C-2: THE SURVEY QUESTIONNAIRE – ENGLISH
Completion of this questionnaire is taken as your consent to participate
1 Have you ever shopped at Metro? 1 ặ If Yes, keep going on; If No, stop here Thank you for your willing with us
2 Have you ever used own-brand products 2 of Metro? ặ If Yes, keep going on; If No, stop here Thank you for your willing with us
Instructions: Please read the following statements and the number that most accurately gives your opinion Circling means you strongly disagree with the statement and means you strongly agree You may also wish to circle any number in the middle to show how strong your opinion is
1 What are your opinions about Metro image?
VA-1 MCCVN carries many brands 1 2 3 4 5
VA-2 MCCVN has a large variety of products 1 2 3 4 5
QA-1 MCCVN sells only high quality products 1 2 3 4 5
QA-2 MCCVN products are fresh 1 2 3 4 5
QA-4 I can count on the products I buy at MCCVN being excellent 1 2 3 4 5
QA-5 I'm satisfied with the products I bought at MCCVN 1 2 3 4 5
PR-1 I can buy products for less at MCCVN 1 2 3 4 5
PR-2 I get value for my money at MCCVN 1 2 3 4 5
PR-3 The prices at MCCVN are fair 1 2 3 4 5
SV-1 MCCVN employees are friendly 1 2 3 4 5
SV-2 MCCVN employees are helpful 1 2 3 4 5
SV-3 The service of MCCVN is professional 1 2 3 4 5
SV-4 I am pleased with the service I receive at MCCVN 1 2 3 4 5
SV-5 Sales promotions are attractive 1 2 3 4 5
AP-1 The appearance of MCCVN is appealing 1 2 3 4 5
AP-2 I like music played in the store 1 2 3 4 5
AP-3 I like colors used in the store 1 2 3 4 5
AP-4 MCCVN is always clean 1 2 3 4 5
AP-6 Merchandising at MCCVN helps easily finding products 1 2 3 4 5
CV-1 MCCVN is not too far from my house 1 2 3 4 5
CV-2 I can go for shopping at MCCVN frequently 1 2 3 4 5
CV-3 I like shopping at MCCVN 1 2 3 4 5
2 What are your opinions about private labels of Metro (Metro private labels)? 2
AT-1 I like MCCVN private label products 1 2 3 4 5
AT-2 I get value for my money from MCCVN private label products 1 2 3 4 5
AT-3 My capability to buy MCCVN private label products is high 1 2 3 4 5
AT-4 I do believe to want to buy MCCVN private label products 1 2 3 4 5
AT-5 MCCVN private labels are my first choices upon shopping at
AT-6 Overall MCCVN private label products are excellent 1 2 3 4 5
