Effect of Product Cues on the Purchase of Private Labels of Food Products from Organised Retailers in Chandigarh

Organised retail industry is at a nascent stage in India. Industry of private label branded products, though evolving, is rapidly growing. Majority of the organised retail firms are still offering products under national and local brands. However, many of them are enabling the availability of some products under private label brands. It is to be noted that most Indian customers in urban areas are habituated towards buying products under national or local brands, irrespective of whether purchase is being made from an organised outlet or a stand-alone store. This could be because of various reasons such as customer’s familiarity with national brands, lack of faith in private label brands, product availability, promotion of national brands, etc. Nevertheless, many existing stand-alone retail outlets have been selling many product categories under private label brands. Cue theory has been extensively cited to explain the proneness to buy products and brands. The present study examines the effect of product cues on the proneness to buy private label brands of food products from the organised retail stores amongst customers in Chandigarh. It is an exploratory study based on data gathered using questionnaire. It has been concluded that the effect of the product cues is not favourable on the proneness to buy private label brands of instant noodles and milk and milk products sold by the organised retail outlets.