Premium private label: how product value, trust and category involvement influence consumers willingness to buy

Premium private labels (PPLs) are applied to products with distinctive features with prices equal, and sometimes even higher, than those of the category leaders. The objective of the retailers is to obtain, in the minds of consumers, the same positioning of national brands. So, PPLs are becoming more and more crucial for competitive advantage and store loyalty. Starting from this evidence, this paper aims to contribute to the advancement of knowledge on the subject, analyzing the impact of consumer trust in retailer, consumer involvement and product value on consumer willingness to buy PPLs. Data for hypotheses testing were collected through a 2 × 2 × 2 experiment between subjects, in which different groups of consumers were randomly exposed to different experimental conditions. Results show that: (a) consumer trust in retailer positively influences consumer’s willingness to buy in case of products with hedonic value; (b) consumer involvement has a significant main effect and there is a significant two-way interactions between trust and involvement; (c) when consumer trust in retailer is low, non-involved consumers show a greater willingness to buy the PPL for products with utilitarian rather than hedonic value.