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CSR: Consumer responses to the social quality of private labels
Journal of Retailing and Consumer Services 21 (2014) 357–363
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Journal of Retailing and Consumer Services journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/jretconser
CSR: Consumer responses to the social quality of private labels Chiraz Aouina Mejri a, Dhruv Bhatli b,n a b
ESG Management School France, 25 rue Saint-Ambroise, 75011 Paris, France IRG, Institute of Research in Management, Université Paris Est, (UPEC), Place de la Porte des Champs, 4, route de Choisy, 94010 Créteil, France
art ic l e i nf o
a b s t r a c t
Available online 3 September 2013
This paper investigates the responses of French consumers to the communication of the “social quality” of private labels (PL) in terms of perceived quality of the PL and intentional loyalty to the brand and the retailer. It also treats the role of some individual variables in these responses. Using experimentation with two independent groups, we show that communicating the “social quality” of the PL improves his perceived quality and the consumer′s intentional loyalty to the brand and the retailer. We also suggest through some individual variables a profile of the most sensitive consumers to the socially responsible PL. Few papers treat the relational potential of the socially responsible private label (PL) in the retailer′s strategy. This paper, through experimentation (N1 ¼N2 ¼ 400), studies this aspect on three levels: (a) consumers′ response to PL′s social quality in terms of perceived quality, (b) loyalty towards the socially responsible PL and the retailer, (c) and the role of individual variables in these responses. The findings reveal that (a) the communication of the PL′s social quality improves the perceived quality of the PL, (b) it also improves consumers′ intention of loyalty towards the PL and the retailer. It studies also (c) individual characteristics of consumers sensitive towards PL′s social quality. & 2013 Published by Elsevier Ltd.
Keywords: Social quality Private labels Perceived quality Loyalty Experimentation
1. Introduction The current context in which large retailers operate is characterized by a need for legitimacy, competitiveness, and differentiation (Dia-Mart agency1). In this regard, earlier studies outline two independent phenomena: first an upsurge amidst retail players for the socially responsible argument (Aouina-Mejri and Bhatli, 2011) and second, an increasingly important role given to the private labels by retailers in their strategies of differentiation. In the same vein, some earlier studies shed light on the relational potential of private label (PL) (Lal and Corstjens 2000; Steenkamp and Dekimpe, 1997). These studies highlight the potential of customer loyalty to the retailers by improving the perceived quality of their private labels. Hence, the PL are no longer “Mee-too” brands but begin to acquire more a status in themselves. The marketing of private labels from organic and fair trade by retailers tells us about their willingness to give the role of “ambassador of environment and social values” for their own brands. That said, despite the multiplication of their socially responsible practices, retailers continue to suffer from a negative image among French consumers (Lavorata and AouinaMejri, 2008).
Given the importance accorded to PL′s role and being socially responsible, retailers have augmented interest in understanding consumer responses towards these social efforts. However, in the absence of studies dealing with the same in the current literature, this paper hence fills this gap and clarifies the consumer responses towards social efforts of retailers, especially the role of private labels in this context. Hence, this study examines (a) the consumer response to the communication of the social2 quality of PL, and (b) the role of individual variables in consumer responses to the retailers′ social efforts dealing with their private labels. To this end, this research paper is divided into three parts. It initially outlines the theoretical framework of this study through a literature review, followed by an explanation of the employed methodology, before finally presenting the main findings of this study. Towards the end, the conclusion section draws up the main contributions of this study and provides future directions for research.
2. Theoretical framework and research hypothesis According to Ducroq (2002), “the retailer embodies a social dimension much stronger and more binding than that of the industrial brand. The retailer now must justify its ongoing contribution to society
n
Corresponding author. Tel./fax: þ 33 1 41 78 47 67. E-mail addresses: [email protected] (C. Aouina Mejri), [email protected] (D. Bhatli). 1 Dia Mart agency is a member of Ebelto ft, international retail experts. 0969-6989/$ - see front matter & 2013 Published by Elsevier Ltd. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.jretconser.2013.08.001
2 Social quality is defined as, the respect for human rights and workers throughout the production and commercial process of the brand.
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and commit to improving purchasing power while ensuring food security, environmental protection, working conditions in developing countries”.
Organization (ILO) and the local social regulations in emerging markets.” 3 2.2. Social quality and perceived quality of the private label
2.1. The social quality of the private label (PL) “The identity of a private label is not separable from the identity of the retailer. It often carries the same name and has the same genetic inheritance at birth. However, the means of expression of the PL are complementary and different from those of the stores and the retailer” (Breton, 2004, p. 127). Beyond the physical characteristics of the brand, private label, to fulfill its role as the ambassador of retailers′ values, must reflect its culture, philosophy and type of customers it serves. Indeed, the PL ideally serves to realize the position of the retailer like Leclerc on reducing pollution from plastic bags, or bending towards regional values like Cora and system U. In addition, retail chains have expressed environmental and social commitment through the introduction of organic labels and fair trade offers in PL. In the food sector, the organic private labels had long been on the shelves of major stores: Monoprix in 1993, Crossroad in 1997, Casino, Leclerc and Système U in 1999, while Danone launched the organic yogurt in 2006 (LSA, March 2007). Indeed, awareness of the importance of organic range of products by the PL has developed from since 2004 even in the non food sector, an example being Monoprix, which has a range of organic textile products from its own brands (Bout′chou, CFK, Derby…). That said, and from a social point of view, the image of retail chains is regularly tarnished with scandals relating to the manufacturing and commercialization conditions relative to their activities. Originally, social quality was defined as “the degree to which people are able to participate in the economic, social and cultural life of their communities under the conditions that enhance their well-being and individual potential” (Beck et al., 2001). Moreover, Van Der Maesen and Walker, 2005 explain that “a key aim of social quality is to overcome the present fragmentation of policy between social policies, economic policies and employment policies”. The concept or theory of social quality as largely treated by European sociologists and especially in the work of the European Foundation on Social Quality seems to be multifaceted and interrelated treating the individual in his various roles: citizen, employee, consumer. As part of our work, we are interested in the social quality of the PL as defined by the NGO “éthique sur l′ étiquette” as related to the production process of a product or a service. It is the consideration of social conditions of people who contribute to the production of a product. Social quality differs from the technical quality in that it is not detectable on the final product; cannot be measured by product analysis. The notion of social quality in the production of private label becomes more important in light of the numerous scandals implicating distributors of their non-compliance with minimum social conditions. Indeed, in february 2009, the association, Clean Clothes Campaign (CCC), with support from the NGO “éthique sur l ′étiquette” (Ethics on the label), released a report on the practices in the textile industry and supply stores. In this report, the two associations pointed their finger at the deplorable working conditions of garment manufacturers in East Asian countries, ranging from miserable wages, unpaid overtime, unfair dismissal to prohibition to form unions (Novethic, 2009). In the retail sector, the voluntary approach to ensure the social quality of the offer has materialized by a commitment from a number of retailers on the Social Clause Initiative, including Auchan, Camif, Carrefour Casino, Cora, E. Leclerc, Système U, 3 Swiss among others. It looks like an approach which is “pragmatic and progressive, and designed to encourage their suppliers to meet the main conventions and recommendations of the International Labor
Perceived quality, also known as “excellence” (De Lanauze and Aurier, 2006) is defined as a fundamental benefit sought by the consumer (Zeithaml, 1988; Cronin, Brady and Hult, 2000; Grewal, Monroe and Krishnan, 1998; Aurier et al., 2001). Researchers dealing with PL showed that from the time consumers have more confidence in the quality of private label, their products will increase in their popularity (Salmon and Cmar, 1987; Dévény, 1992; Wilensky, 1994; Baltas, 1997). Subsequent studies have recommended distributors to develop the qualitative dimension of PL and no longer just lower prices as a selling point for this category of products (Stambbaugh, 2003). In addition, Hoch and Banerji (2000) show empirically that the evolution of the market share of PL was related to their perceived quality. Furthermore, other authors (Brown and Dacin, 1997; Creyer and Ross, 1997; Ellen, Mohr and Webb, 2000; Murry and Vogel, 1997; Sen and Bhattacharya, 2001) demonstrate the existence of significant links between corporate social initiatives and positive emotional, cognitive and behavioral responses from consumers. Specifically, significant and positive relationships were reported between the social practices of companies and the perceived quality of their products (Folkes and Kamins, 1999; Maignan and Ferrel, 2001; Swaen and Chumpitaz, 2008). Respect for human rights thus seems an extrinsic component of the perceived quality of the brand and guarantees that “social quality” seems to improve the perceived quality as a whole, hence the following hypothesis: H1. The social quality has a positive effect on perceived quality of the private label. Significant relationships were also demonstrated between the social practices of companies and purchase intentions vis-à-vis their products (Brown and Dacin, 1997; Maignan et al.1999). On the other hand, research on relational skills of the PL state that by improving its actual and perceived quality, private label develops loyalty for itself and for the brand (Corstjens and Lal 2000; Steenkamp and Dekimpte, 1997). We then assume the following hypothesis: H2. The social quality of the PL improves the intention of loyalty towards the brand. H3. The social quality of the PL improves the intention of loyalty towards the retailer. Earlier studies in relationship marketing shows the importance of elements in the relational chain, such as the perceived quality of products or services, and how they assist in building a quality relationship with customer, translated into behavioral loyalty (Gronroos 1990; Hunt and Morgan, 1994; Garbarino and Johnson, 1999; Cronin, Brady and Hunt, 2000, De Lanauze and Aurier, 2006). The ability for the PL to generate consumer loyalty to the brand end the retailer is under researched in the literature (Binninger, 2007). Indeed, it is more common to consider that loyalty to the store positively influences the perception and potential purchase of the PL (McEnally and De Chernatony, 1999; McEnally and Hawes, 1984). However, the content of this relationship made in the opposite direction (the label and its impact on retailer′s loyalty) still remains controversial (Corstjens and Lal. 2000). In addition, positive relationships were demonstrated between the perceived quality of PL and purchase intentions of PL (Sethuraman, 2003). In 3
http://www.ics-asso.org/doc4/presse/2007_rapport.pdf
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France, Jara (2009) showed that the perceived quality, considered as a dimension of its image, positively influences the purchase of PL. In addition, significant positive relationships were reported between the perceived quality of service by the consumer and his willingness to recommend the firm (Boulding et al. 1993; Parasuraman et al., 1988). Indeed, considered an indicator of loyalty, the behavior of recommendation (Zeithaml et al. 1996, N′ Goala 2000) is one of the most credible forms of communication. We then ask the following hypothesis: H4. The perceived quality of social responsible PL has a positive influence on the intention of loyalty to the PL (H4a) and towards the retailer (H4b) 2.3. Consumers′ sensitivity to the social quality of PL: what profile? Earlier studies have listed the most relevant individual variables to identify the socially responsible consumer. Besides sociodemographic variables (gender, age, income, educational level and occupation), they have highlighted the link between different forms of socially responsible consumption and personal values (De Pelsmacker et al. 2005; Show et al. 2005). Other researchers have identified the perceived effectiveness of the consumers as an explanatory variable of socially responsible consumer behavior (Roberts, 1996; Sirieix and Pontier, 2003). In addition, the attitude toward PL seems to explain the brand loyalty (Kraus, 1995; Binninger, 2007), hence the usefulness of leveraging it in the context of this study. 2.4. Consumer personal values and the socially responsible private label Schwartz and Bilsky, 1993 define personal values as concepts or beliefs, related to the purpose of existence or desirable behavior that go beyond specific situations. Previous studies (Reynolds and Gutman 1988; Valette-Florence and Rappacchi 1991) have demonstrated the possibility to link products and consumer values. Relinking product attributes to some important consumer values can (a) identify the consumer segment indicating an interest in these products and (b) even identify their potential market penetration. By using the values inventory of Schwartz, the latter (1992, 1994), followed by De Pelsmacker et al. (2005) found that individuals who appreciate the values of universalism show a strong sensitivity to environmental problems and translate their concerns into the purchasing behavior of socially responsible products. Show et al. (2005) elucidate that responsible consumers attach little importance to the values of social power. In a French context, Duong (2006) showed that the consumer values of social power (seeking power and social recognition) negatively influence the willingness to buy the social labeled products. Doran (2008) also found that the values of social power are negatively related to the consumption of fair trade products. This prompts us towards the following hypothesis: H5. Universalism values positively influences the perceived quality of PL (H5a), loyalty to the PL (H5b) and loyalty towards the retailer (H5c). H6. The power values negatively influence the perceived quality of PL (H6a), loyalty to the PL (H6b) and loyalty towards the retailer (H6c). 2.5. The perceived effectiveness of the consumer and the socially responsible PL The perceived effectiveness by the consumer expresses his ability to reduce through his actions the environmental and social problems (Webster, 1975; Antil, 1984; Roberts, 1996). According to Ellen, Wiener and Cobb-Walgren (1991) and Berger and Kanetkar (1995) the perceived effectiveness can also be seen as a strong
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explanatory factor for the intended behavior. The intended behavior would be more important when the person thinks that his action will be effective (Sirieix and Pontier, 2003). We then ask the following hypothesis: H7. The perceived effectiveness positively influences the perceived quality of the PL (H7a), loyalty to the PL (H7B) and loyalty towards the retailer (H7C). 2.6. Consumer′s attitude toward private label Binninger (2007) showed the existence of a positive relationship between the general attitude toward PL and consumer′s loyalty to the brand. These results corroborate the statements of Kraus (1995) who defend the role of a positive attitude vis-à-vis the PL in the behaviors of loyalty. More recently, Cristau and Lacouilhe, (2008) have shown the two-dimensional character of the attitude towards PL: (a) first on the competitiveness of PL items related to the feeling of making a smart purchase by buying PL, and (b) second on the qualitative perception of private label items combined with low prices and poor quality of private label. By testing the influence of attitudinal dimensions of PL on consumer loyalty, significant associations between the PL′s competitiveness and consumer′s loyalty have been reported while the qualitative perception of PL did not seem to affect the loyalty to the PL. Hence we issue the following hypothesis: H8. The competitiveness of PL positively influences the perceived quality of PL with social quality (H8a), loyalty to the PL with social quality (H8b) and loyalty to the retailer (H8C). All links tested are summarized in the following conceptual model (Fig. 1).
3. Research methodology To answer our research question, we used an experimentation, mobilizing two independent groups (N1¼N2¼400). The treatment involves administering a fictitious article (Appendix 1) describing a fictitious retailer wishing to settle in France. The first group (N1¼400), a control group, was given a newspaper article describing a fictious retail brand, the information relates to the purpose, management and the retail offer. The choice to work on a fictitious retailer was motivated by the desire to control variables such as the reputation of the retailer and the PL, it′s image, geographical proximity and other variables that may affect the perceived quality of private label and loyalty intention towards the brand or the retailer. The survey administrated to the experimental group (N2¼400) contains another article, where in addition to initial information, a paragraph describing Socio-demographic Variables (Gender , age, income, level of education and profession).
Psycho - Socio Variables Social and individual values
Percieved Quality of the PL with Social Quality
Loyalty to PL with Social Quality
Percieved effectiveness
Attitude towards PL
Fig. 1. Research Model.
Loyalty to the retailer
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the commitment of the fictional retailer in a process of traceability of its own brand guaranteeing social quality is introduced. This information is made available to consumers in the form of a bar code that they can introduce on the retailer′s website for more details. The questionnaire was administered online among a representative sample of the French population, constituted under the quota method (sex, age and CSP). The T test, comparison of means for independent groups were used to test the effect of disclosure of the social quality of PL on its perceived quality and on the loyalty to the PL and the retailer. The
test of relationship between dependent variables and the role of individual variables were determined with the structural equation model. The role of socio-demographic variables was tested through the use of ANOVA (Table 1).
4. Findings Measures of variables are mobilized using the literature (Table 2). The scale for measuring attitude toward PL was subject to a French
Table 1 Results of ANOVA′s socio-demographic variables Group
Gender
Perceived quality average
Results of variance analysis for the effect of gender on perceived quality of the private label. Group 1 Males 2,9585 Group 2 Females 3,2077 Total 3,0875 Results of variance analysis for the effect of gender on customer loyalty Group Gender Overall loyalty (global) Group 1 Males 2,8777 Group 2 Females 3,0667 Total 2,9755 Results of variance analysis for the effect of age on overall customer loyalty Groups Age Overall Loyalty (global) Group 1 20–34 years 3,0228 Group 2 35–54 years 3,0092 Group 3 55–74 years 2,9894 Group 4 75 years and þ 2,1733 Total 2,9755
F
Sig.
7194
0008
F 4082
Sig. 0044
F 3,908
Sig. 0,009
Table 2 Measures of variables from the conceptual model (Likerts 5 points scale). Items of measure of the perceived quality of PL – I consider this brand as a brand of quality. – Products of this brand are of good quality. – The apparent quality of this brand is very high. Items measuring communication by word of mouth – Say positive things about this brand. – Encourage your friends and acquaintances to buy this brand. Items measuring behavioral intentions – Buy products by this brand. – Consider this brand as your first choice while buying your products. Items for measuring personal values Dimension Values Power Social power, social recognition Achievement Success, self respect Auto focus Curiosity, independence, freedom, creativity Universalism Social justice, equality, a world in peace, harmony, personal protection of the environment Compliance Obedience, self-discipline, respect for parents and aged people Security Family security, sense of belonging Items measuring the perceived effectiveness “I personally do not think having a significant impact on the broad problem of child labor”.“There is no point make fuss (an issue of) about child labor because in any case, I can´t do anything to help”. Items measuring the attitude towards the private label Items of the qualitative perception – In general, PL products are of poor quality. – The PL are less expensive than other brands because they are lower quality. – The low prices charged by PL are the result of the poor quality of these products. Items of the competitiveness dimension – When buying a PL, I really think of what i am getting for my money. – In most cases, PL is usually the best buy. – When buying a PL, I always seem to have made a good deal. – In terms of value for money, I prefer other brands to PL. – I think that PL are good value for money. – I consider that I am getting a bargain by buying a PL.
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translation and a retro translation to ensure fidelity to the original version. To measure the intentional loyalty towards the PL and the retailer, two items were mobilized, measuring the intention to purchase (intention to frequent) and two items measuring the intention to recommend. During the exploratory and confirmatory studies, measures of loyalty to the PL and the retailer did not show discriminating validity and resulted in a composite variable that we call “overall loyalty”. The exploratory and confirmatory analysis of measurements of the dimensions of personal values from Schwartz′s inventory resulted in two dimensions of the values of social power and values of universalism. The results of validation of measuring instruments are summarized below (see Table 3). 4.1. The impact of the social quality of PL on the responses of consumers The first axis of our research was to test the impact of communication of the social quality of PL on its perceived quality, on the loyalty towards the PL and the retailer. The use of t test comparison of means for independent samples (N1 ¼N2 ¼400) revealed the following results (see Table 4): The perceived quality of PL is significantly improved by communicating its social quality with an average of 3.170 for the experimental group and 2.917 for the control group (t ¼ 4.215, P o0.01). H1 is therefore confirmed. Intentional loyalty to the PL and the retailer is significantly improved by communicating the social quality of the PL with an average of 3.0225 for the experimental group and 2.7935 for the
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control group (t¼ 3.923, P o0.01). H2 which tests the effect of social quality on the overall loyalty is also validated. Hence, our results seem to confirm the positive impact of the disclosure of a social commitment of firms on their relationships with their customers. Retailers, in particular, are rewarded with a positive intention of loyalty that occurs through improved perceived quality of their own brands. 4.2. Role of individual variables and profile of the consumer-sensitive to socially responsible PL The results of the global model test obtained through AMOS 7 according to the method of maximum likelihood have been earlier summarized in Table 4a and b. The standardized results were obtained by bootstrap (500 runs). Using this type of analysis helps to overcome the violation of multi normality variables (Didellon and ValetteFlorence, 1996). Our model presents a multivariate kurtosis¼196.252, above the threshold /3/. The procedure thus adopted will create 500 new samples based on extractions from the population. The results show that four of the nine parameters tested with the structural model are positive and significant near the 1% threshold. Adequacy indexes are also satisfactory. For the 400 individuals in the experimental group, competitiveness, a dimension of attitude towards the PL appears to be the most important explanatory factor in the perceived quality of the socially responsible PL, which in turn determines the consumer loyalty to the brand and the retailer. In conformation of our hypotheses, universalism seems to explain the perceived quality by the consumer of the PL with social quality.
Table 3 Psychometric Qualities of the measuring instruments (nControl group). Scales
Final structure
No. of items
ra (CGn)
rvcb (CGn)
Percieved quality of the PL (De Lanauze et Aurier, 2006) Overall loyalty (adapted from the literature) Personal values (Schwartz, 1992)
Uni-dimensional Uni-dimensional Dimension1: universalism Dimension 2: power Uni-dimensional Dimension1: competitiveness Dimension2: qualitative perception
3 5 4 5 2 6 3
0943 (0955) 0942 (0934) 0885 0823 0668 0904 0668
0847(0878) 0764(0738) 0660 0490 0509 0612 0408
Percieved effectiveness (Berger et Kanetkar, 1995) Attitude/PL (Burton et al. 1998)
a b
R: called reliability rho or composite reliability, tests if it may be assumed that a single common factor underlies a set of variables. Rvc: Rhô of Convergent validity is assessed by the correlation among items which make up the scale or instrument measuring a construct.
Table 4 (a) The standardised regression coefficients (λ) and the T of Students. *The standardised regression coefficient reflects the value of the causal relationship between independent variable and dependent variable; **Validation of causation between two variables requires a Student t higher than1.96 in absolute value. Links in the general model
λ*
Test T**
Universe-Percived quality Power-Percived quality Effectiveness-Percived quality Competiveness-Percived quality Universe-Loyalty Power-Loyalty Effectiveness-Loyalty Competiveness-Loyalty Percieved quality-Loyalty
0235 0014 0059 0328 0035 0038 0039 0140 0821
3911 0230 1036 6382 0927 1005 1128 4194 18,983
P ***
NS NS ***
NS NS NS *** ***
(b) Quality of Measure of the Global Model Index Value
RMSEA 0048
NS: Non significant. n
significant to 10%. significant to 5%. nnn significant to 1%. nn
SRMR 0,0399
IFI 0966
TLI 0961
CFI 0966
Chi-square/DF 1933
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PL’s competitiveness
Universalism values
0,328
0,235
Perceived Quality of the PL with Social Quality 0,140 0,821 Global Loyalty
role of variables related to the reputation and experience of consumers with the retailer. It would be appropriate to work on an actual retailer and to take into account other variables. The measure of perceived effectiveness seems inappropriate for such an important concept, which in our view explains the insignificant effect of this variable revealed by our study. In addition, data processed in this work are declarative data which reduces the relevance of our contribution. Indeed, a significant gap is often found between the statements of consumers and their actual behavior including responsible consumption. Furthermore, our study could be replicated in different categories of products under private label.
Fig. 2. The Direct Significant Links of the Global Model (N¼ 400).
Appendix 1. Mobilized Scenario for the Experimentation However, even this factor does not seem to influence customer loyalty. Indeed, to our surprise, universalism and the perceived effectiveness of consumer influences in a negative manner the overall consumer loyalty towards the retailer and the socially responsible PL. However, this effect is not significant. The values of power and perceived effectiveness of the consumer does not appear to explain the variations in terms of perceived quality of the PL and overall consumer loyalty to the brand and the retailer. In addition, the use of ANOVA demonstrates a very limited explanatory power of demographic variables like previous studies on socially responsible consumption. However, we found that women have a higher level of perceived quality of the socially responsible PL and global loyalty, higher than that of men. We also noted a higher overall level of loyalty among 20–34 year old than among other age groups. (See Fig. 2)
5. Conclusion Our research suggests that through the communication about the social quality of PL, the latter sees improvement of consumers′ perceived quality and intentional loyalty to the brand and the retailer. Its findings will help retailers (a) to improve their socially responsible positioning in consumer′s mind and (b) determine the socially responsible consumer types to better target the market through a more effective communication strategy. The main results suggest that socially responsible PL reinforce the brand and the retailer in their socially responsible positioning. Moreover, the strongly positive relationship between perceived quality of PL and consumers loyalty to the brand and the retailer suggests increasingly important role of socially responsible PL. In this regard, our work provides additional knowledge, especially on the link between perceived quality of PL and consumer loyalty to the brand and the retailer. Another contribution concerns the profile of the consumers sensitive to socially responsible PL, that is young and females seem to appreciate the values of universalism more than others and show a positive attitude towards socially responsible PL. These results can be used by the retailers in their communication strategies to promote this product category. In fact, our findings will allow retailers first to improve their socially responsible positioning in consumer′s mind. Second, determining which consumer is sensitive to PL′s social quality allowing retailers to better target the market by a more effective communication strategy, in spite of the importance of non-significant assumptions, including socio-demographic nature. Indeed, the role of sociodemographic variables in explaining different forms of socially responsible consumption has always demonstrated its weakness. The determination of the segment of consumers sensitive to socially responsible PL must be based on psychosocial variables such as the values of altruistic nature and consumer′s attitude toward private labels. However, despite its good results, this study is not without limits. Indeed, the use of fictitious scenario depicting a brand neutralizes the
Ecosta is a generalized retail brand, its range extends from the food, to textiles, to craft products, etc. Its head office is in Waddinxween, in the Netherlands. Its record for 2007 proved extremely positive with a turnover of 70 million Euros and a net profit of 1 million Euros. These results can make its owner and main shareholders quite happy: the bank Tribodos and its 76 employees. Since the arrival of its new chief Norbert Engels, Ecosta is experiencing exponential growth through a well developed brand strategy. This is one of the few generalized brands in the world which build its image on a clear positioning that it controls the flow throughout the production chain. Indeed, all references Ecosta offers more than 70% Brand By Brand teaches sign # denotes the products bearing the brand name as trademark (e.g. Auchan, Carrefour…) #. For installation in France, Ecosta plans to expand its referencing with national brand products to meet a wide range of consumers. In addition, Ecosta has created a pilot project called Human and More. Indeed, Ecosta has always attached great importance to transparency and therefore documented all stages of production and processing of textile products of its own brand. These documents adopting social criteria were the basis for developing a unique system of quality certification. E.g. Textiles bearing the logo “Ecosta” covering ready-to-wear for adults and children, products of linen (bed linen, kitchen and bathroom) has a purple label and a unique identification code. By entering the code on the homepage of the website, Human and More has the history of the product and gives an idea of its social quality in terms of human rights and workers. Since 2004, Human and More has the status of an independent foundation4. References Aouina-Mejri, C. and D. Bhatli, 2011, “Responsibly yours: marketing sustainability in retail”. In: Academy of Marketing Science Annual Conference Proceedings. Coral Gables, Florida, USA. Aurier, P., C. Benavent and G. N′goala, 2001, Validité discriminante and prédictive des composantes de la relation à la marque. In: Congrès International de l′ Association Française de Marketing Proceedings. Deauville, France. Beck, W., Van Der Maesen, L.J.G., Thomese, F. and Walker, A. (2001), Social Quality: A Vision for Europe, Klewer Law International. Binninger, A.S., 2007. Les fondements psychologiques et relationnels des marques de distributeurs dans la distribution alimentaire. Décisions Marketing 45, 47–57. Boulding, W., Kalra, A., Staelin, R., Zeithaml, V.A., 1993. A dynamic process model of service quality: from expectations to behavioural intentions. Journal of Marketing Research 30, 7–27. Breton P., 2004. Les marques de distributeurs: les MDD ne sont pas que des copies, LSA, Dunod. 280 P, Paris. Brown, T.J., Dacin, P.A., 1997. The company and the product: corporate associations and consumer product responses. Journal of Marketing 61, 68–84. Burton, S., Lichtenstein, D.R., Nandemeyer, R.G., Garrandson, J.A., 1998. A scale for measuring attitude toward private label products and an examination of its psychological and behavioural correlates. Academy of Marketing Science Journal 26, 293–306.
4 The colored paragraph does not appear in the text provided to the control group.
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Maignan, I., Ferrel, O.C., Hult, G.T., 1999. Corporate citizenship: cultural antecedents and business benefits. Journal of the Academy of Marketing Science 27, 455–469. Maignan, I., Ferrel, O.C., 2001. Corporate citizenship as a marketing instrument. European Journal of Marketing 35, 457–484. McEnally, M.R., Hawes, J.M., 1984. The market for generic brand grocery product: a review and extension. Journal of Marketing 48, 75–83. McEnally, M.R., De Chernatony, L., 1999. The evolving nature of branding: consumer and managerial considerations. Journal of Consumer and Marketing Research 99, 1–30. Murry, K., Vogel, C.M., 1997. Using a hierarchy-of effects approach to gauge the effectiveness of corporate social responsibility to generate goodwill toward the firm: financial versus non financial impacts. Journal of Business Research 2, 141–160. N′Goala, G., 2000. Une approche fonctionnelle de la relation à la marque: de la valeur perçue à la fidélité des consommateurs. (Unpublished doctoral dissertation). Université des Sciences et Techniques du Longuedoc, Montpellier, France. Parasuraman, A., Zaithaml, V.A., Berry, L.L., 1988. Servqual: a multiple-item scale for measuring consumer perceptions of service quality. Journal of Retailing 64, 12–40. Roberts, J.A., 1996. Green consumers in the 1990s: profile and implications for advertising. Journal of Business Research 36, 217–231. Salmon, W.J., Cmar, K.A., 1987. Private labels are back in fashion. Harvard Business Review 66, 99–106. Schwartz, S.H, Bilsky, W., 1993. Vers une théorie de l′universalité du contenu et de la structure des valeurs: Extensions et reproductions interculturelles. Recherche et Applications en Marketing 8, 77–106. Sen, S., Bhattacharya, C.B., 2001. Does doing good is always lead to doing better? Consumer reactions to corporate social responsibility. Journal of Marketing Research 38, 225–243. Sethuraman, R., 2003. Measuring national brand equity over store brands and exploring its antecedents. Review of Marketing Science 1, 28. Steenkamp, J.B.E.M., Dekimpe, M.C., 1997. The increasing power of store brands: building loyalty and market share. Long Range Planning 30, 917–930. Swaen, V, Chumpitaz, C.R., 2008. L′impact de la responsabilité sociétale de l′ entreprise sur la confiance des consommateurs. Recherche et Applications en Marketing 23, 7–35. Van Der Maesen, L.J.G, Walker, A., 2005. Indicators of social quality: outcomes of the European scientific network. European Journal of Social Quality 5, 8–25. Zeithaml, V.A., 1988. Consumer perceptions of price, quality and value: a meansend model and synthesis of evidence. Journal of Marketing 52, 2–22.
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Journal of Retailing and Consumer Services journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/jretconser
CSR: Consumer responses to the social quality of private labels Chiraz Aouina Mejri a, Dhruv Bhatli b,n a b
ESG Management School France, 25 rue Saint-Ambroise, 75011 Paris, France IRG, Institute of Research in Management, Université Paris Est, (UPEC), Place de la Porte des Champs, 4, route de Choisy, 94010 Créteil, France
art ic l e i nf o
a b s t r a c t
Available online 3 September 2013
This paper investigates the responses of French consumers to the communication of the “social quality” of private labels (PL) in terms of perceived quality of the PL and intentional loyalty to the brand and the retailer. It also treats the role of some individual variables in these responses. Using experimentation with two independent groups, we show that communicating the “social quality” of the PL improves his perceived quality and the consumer′s intentional loyalty to the brand and the retailer. We also suggest through some individual variables a profile of the most sensitive consumers to the socially responsible PL. Few papers treat the relational potential of the socially responsible private label (PL) in the retailer′s strategy. This paper, through experimentation (N1 ¼N2 ¼ 400), studies this aspect on three levels: (a) consumers′ response to PL′s social quality in terms of perceived quality, (b) loyalty towards the socially responsible PL and the retailer, (c) and the role of individual variables in these responses. The findings reveal that (a) the communication of the PL′s social quality improves the perceived quality of the PL, (b) it also improves consumers′ intention of loyalty towards the PL and the retailer. It studies also (c) individual characteristics of consumers sensitive towards PL′s social quality. & 2013 Published by Elsevier Ltd.
Keywords: Social quality Private labels Perceived quality Loyalty Experimentation
1. Introduction The current context in which large retailers operate is characterized by a need for legitimacy, competitiveness, and differentiation (Dia-Mart agency1). In this regard, earlier studies outline two independent phenomena: first an upsurge amidst retail players for the socially responsible argument (Aouina-Mejri and Bhatli, 2011) and second, an increasingly important role given to the private labels by retailers in their strategies of differentiation. In the same vein, some earlier studies shed light on the relational potential of private label (PL) (Lal and Corstjens 2000; Steenkamp and Dekimpe, 1997). These studies highlight the potential of customer loyalty to the retailers by improving the perceived quality of their private labels. Hence, the PL are no longer “Mee-too” brands but begin to acquire more a status in themselves. The marketing of private labels from organic and fair trade by retailers tells us about their willingness to give the role of “ambassador of environment and social values” for their own brands. That said, despite the multiplication of their socially responsible practices, retailers continue to suffer from a negative image among French consumers (Lavorata and AouinaMejri, 2008).
Given the importance accorded to PL′s role and being socially responsible, retailers have augmented interest in understanding consumer responses towards these social efforts. However, in the absence of studies dealing with the same in the current literature, this paper hence fills this gap and clarifies the consumer responses towards social efforts of retailers, especially the role of private labels in this context. Hence, this study examines (a) the consumer response to the communication of the social2 quality of PL, and (b) the role of individual variables in consumer responses to the retailers′ social efforts dealing with their private labels. To this end, this research paper is divided into three parts. It initially outlines the theoretical framework of this study through a literature review, followed by an explanation of the employed methodology, before finally presenting the main findings of this study. Towards the end, the conclusion section draws up the main contributions of this study and provides future directions for research.
2. Theoretical framework and research hypothesis According to Ducroq (2002), “the retailer embodies a social dimension much stronger and more binding than that of the industrial brand. The retailer now must justify its ongoing contribution to society
n
Corresponding author. Tel./fax: þ 33 1 41 78 47 67. E-mail addresses: [email protected] (C. Aouina Mejri), [email protected] (D. Bhatli). 1 Dia Mart agency is a member of Ebelto ft, international retail experts. 0969-6989/$ - see front matter & 2013 Published by Elsevier Ltd. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.jretconser.2013.08.001
2 Social quality is defined as, the respect for human rights and workers throughout the production and commercial process of the brand.
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and commit to improving purchasing power while ensuring food security, environmental protection, working conditions in developing countries”.
Organization (ILO) and the local social regulations in emerging markets.” 3 2.2. Social quality and perceived quality of the private label
2.1. The social quality of the private label (PL) “The identity of a private label is not separable from the identity of the retailer. It often carries the same name and has the same genetic inheritance at birth. However, the means of expression of the PL are complementary and different from those of the stores and the retailer” (Breton, 2004, p. 127). Beyond the physical characteristics of the brand, private label, to fulfill its role as the ambassador of retailers′ values, must reflect its culture, philosophy and type of customers it serves. Indeed, the PL ideally serves to realize the position of the retailer like Leclerc on reducing pollution from plastic bags, or bending towards regional values like Cora and system U. In addition, retail chains have expressed environmental and social commitment through the introduction of organic labels and fair trade offers in PL. In the food sector, the organic private labels had long been on the shelves of major stores: Monoprix in 1993, Crossroad in 1997, Casino, Leclerc and Système U in 1999, while Danone launched the organic yogurt in 2006 (LSA, March 2007). Indeed, awareness of the importance of organic range of products by the PL has developed from since 2004 even in the non food sector, an example being Monoprix, which has a range of organic textile products from its own brands (Bout′chou, CFK, Derby…). That said, and from a social point of view, the image of retail chains is regularly tarnished with scandals relating to the manufacturing and commercialization conditions relative to their activities. Originally, social quality was defined as “the degree to which people are able to participate in the economic, social and cultural life of their communities under the conditions that enhance their well-being and individual potential” (Beck et al., 2001). Moreover, Van Der Maesen and Walker, 2005 explain that “a key aim of social quality is to overcome the present fragmentation of policy between social policies, economic policies and employment policies”. The concept or theory of social quality as largely treated by European sociologists and especially in the work of the European Foundation on Social Quality seems to be multifaceted and interrelated treating the individual in his various roles: citizen, employee, consumer. As part of our work, we are interested in the social quality of the PL as defined by the NGO “éthique sur l′ étiquette” as related to the production process of a product or a service. It is the consideration of social conditions of people who contribute to the production of a product. Social quality differs from the technical quality in that it is not detectable on the final product; cannot be measured by product analysis. The notion of social quality in the production of private label becomes more important in light of the numerous scandals implicating distributors of their non-compliance with minimum social conditions. Indeed, in february 2009, the association, Clean Clothes Campaign (CCC), with support from the NGO “éthique sur l ′étiquette” (Ethics on the label), released a report on the practices in the textile industry and supply stores. In this report, the two associations pointed their finger at the deplorable working conditions of garment manufacturers in East Asian countries, ranging from miserable wages, unpaid overtime, unfair dismissal to prohibition to form unions (Novethic, 2009). In the retail sector, the voluntary approach to ensure the social quality of the offer has materialized by a commitment from a number of retailers on the Social Clause Initiative, including Auchan, Camif, Carrefour Casino, Cora, E. Leclerc, Système U, 3 Swiss among others. It looks like an approach which is “pragmatic and progressive, and designed to encourage their suppliers to meet the main conventions and recommendations of the International Labor
Perceived quality, also known as “excellence” (De Lanauze and Aurier, 2006) is defined as a fundamental benefit sought by the consumer (Zeithaml, 1988; Cronin, Brady and Hult, 2000; Grewal, Monroe and Krishnan, 1998; Aurier et al., 2001). Researchers dealing with PL showed that from the time consumers have more confidence in the quality of private label, their products will increase in their popularity (Salmon and Cmar, 1987; Dévény, 1992; Wilensky, 1994; Baltas, 1997). Subsequent studies have recommended distributors to develop the qualitative dimension of PL and no longer just lower prices as a selling point for this category of products (Stambbaugh, 2003). In addition, Hoch and Banerji (2000) show empirically that the evolution of the market share of PL was related to their perceived quality. Furthermore, other authors (Brown and Dacin, 1997; Creyer and Ross, 1997; Ellen, Mohr and Webb, 2000; Murry and Vogel, 1997; Sen and Bhattacharya, 2001) demonstrate the existence of significant links between corporate social initiatives and positive emotional, cognitive and behavioral responses from consumers. Specifically, significant and positive relationships were reported between the social practices of companies and the perceived quality of their products (Folkes and Kamins, 1999; Maignan and Ferrel, 2001; Swaen and Chumpitaz, 2008). Respect for human rights thus seems an extrinsic component of the perceived quality of the brand and guarantees that “social quality” seems to improve the perceived quality as a whole, hence the following hypothesis: H1. The social quality has a positive effect on perceived quality of the private label. Significant relationships were also demonstrated between the social practices of companies and purchase intentions vis-à-vis their products (Brown and Dacin, 1997; Maignan et al.1999). On the other hand, research on relational skills of the PL state that by improving its actual and perceived quality, private label develops loyalty for itself and for the brand (Corstjens and Lal 2000; Steenkamp and Dekimpte, 1997). We then assume the following hypothesis: H2. The social quality of the PL improves the intention of loyalty towards the brand. H3. The social quality of the PL improves the intention of loyalty towards the retailer. Earlier studies in relationship marketing shows the importance of elements in the relational chain, such as the perceived quality of products or services, and how they assist in building a quality relationship with customer, translated into behavioral loyalty (Gronroos 1990; Hunt and Morgan, 1994; Garbarino and Johnson, 1999; Cronin, Brady and Hunt, 2000, De Lanauze and Aurier, 2006). The ability for the PL to generate consumer loyalty to the brand end the retailer is under researched in the literature (Binninger, 2007). Indeed, it is more common to consider that loyalty to the store positively influences the perception and potential purchase of the PL (McEnally and De Chernatony, 1999; McEnally and Hawes, 1984). However, the content of this relationship made in the opposite direction (the label and its impact on retailer′s loyalty) still remains controversial (Corstjens and Lal. 2000). In addition, positive relationships were demonstrated between the perceived quality of PL and purchase intentions of PL (Sethuraman, 2003). In 3
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France, Jara (2009) showed that the perceived quality, considered as a dimension of its image, positively influences the purchase of PL. In addition, significant positive relationships were reported between the perceived quality of service by the consumer and his willingness to recommend the firm (Boulding et al. 1993; Parasuraman et al., 1988). Indeed, considered an indicator of loyalty, the behavior of recommendation (Zeithaml et al. 1996, N′ Goala 2000) is one of the most credible forms of communication. We then ask the following hypothesis: H4. The perceived quality of social responsible PL has a positive influence on the intention of loyalty to the PL (H4a) and towards the retailer (H4b) 2.3. Consumers′ sensitivity to the social quality of PL: what profile? Earlier studies have listed the most relevant individual variables to identify the socially responsible consumer. Besides sociodemographic variables (gender, age, income, educational level and occupation), they have highlighted the link between different forms of socially responsible consumption and personal values (De Pelsmacker et al. 2005; Show et al. 2005). Other researchers have identified the perceived effectiveness of the consumers as an explanatory variable of socially responsible consumer behavior (Roberts, 1996; Sirieix and Pontier, 2003). In addition, the attitude toward PL seems to explain the brand loyalty (Kraus, 1995; Binninger, 2007), hence the usefulness of leveraging it in the context of this study. 2.4. Consumer personal values and the socially responsible private label Schwartz and Bilsky, 1993 define personal values as concepts or beliefs, related to the purpose of existence or desirable behavior that go beyond specific situations. Previous studies (Reynolds and Gutman 1988; Valette-Florence and Rappacchi 1991) have demonstrated the possibility to link products and consumer values. Relinking product attributes to some important consumer values can (a) identify the consumer segment indicating an interest in these products and (b) even identify their potential market penetration. By using the values inventory of Schwartz, the latter (1992, 1994), followed by De Pelsmacker et al. (2005) found that individuals who appreciate the values of universalism show a strong sensitivity to environmental problems and translate their concerns into the purchasing behavior of socially responsible products. Show et al. (2005) elucidate that responsible consumers attach little importance to the values of social power. In a French context, Duong (2006) showed that the consumer values of social power (seeking power and social recognition) negatively influence the willingness to buy the social labeled products. Doran (2008) also found that the values of social power are negatively related to the consumption of fair trade products. This prompts us towards the following hypothesis: H5. Universalism values positively influences the perceived quality of PL (H5a), loyalty to the PL (H5b) and loyalty towards the retailer (H5c). H6. The power values negatively influence the perceived quality of PL (H6a), loyalty to the PL (H6b) and loyalty towards the retailer (H6c). 2.5. The perceived effectiveness of the consumer and the socially responsible PL The perceived effectiveness by the consumer expresses his ability to reduce through his actions the environmental and social problems (Webster, 1975; Antil, 1984; Roberts, 1996). According to Ellen, Wiener and Cobb-Walgren (1991) and Berger and Kanetkar (1995) the perceived effectiveness can also be seen as a strong
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explanatory factor for the intended behavior. The intended behavior would be more important when the person thinks that his action will be effective (Sirieix and Pontier, 2003). We then ask the following hypothesis: H7. The perceived effectiveness positively influences the perceived quality of the PL (H7a), loyalty to the PL (H7B) and loyalty towards the retailer (H7C). 2.6. Consumer′s attitude toward private label Binninger (2007) showed the existence of a positive relationship between the general attitude toward PL and consumer′s loyalty to the brand. These results corroborate the statements of Kraus (1995) who defend the role of a positive attitude vis-à-vis the PL in the behaviors of loyalty. More recently, Cristau and Lacouilhe, (2008) have shown the two-dimensional character of the attitude towards PL: (a) first on the competitiveness of PL items related to the feeling of making a smart purchase by buying PL, and (b) second on the qualitative perception of private label items combined with low prices and poor quality of private label. By testing the influence of attitudinal dimensions of PL on consumer loyalty, significant associations between the PL′s competitiveness and consumer′s loyalty have been reported while the qualitative perception of PL did not seem to affect the loyalty to the PL. Hence we issue the following hypothesis: H8. The competitiveness of PL positively influences the perceived quality of PL with social quality (H8a), loyalty to the PL with social quality (H8b) and loyalty to the retailer (H8C). All links tested are summarized in the following conceptual model (Fig. 1).
3. Research methodology To answer our research question, we used an experimentation, mobilizing two independent groups (N1¼N2¼400). The treatment involves administering a fictitious article (Appendix 1) describing a fictitious retailer wishing to settle in France. The first group (N1¼400), a control group, was given a newspaper article describing a fictious retail brand, the information relates to the purpose, management and the retail offer. The choice to work on a fictitious retailer was motivated by the desire to control variables such as the reputation of the retailer and the PL, it′s image, geographical proximity and other variables that may affect the perceived quality of private label and loyalty intention towards the brand or the retailer. The survey administrated to the experimental group (N2¼400) contains another article, where in addition to initial information, a paragraph describing Socio-demographic Variables (Gender , age, income, level of education and profession).
Psycho - Socio Variables Social and individual values
Percieved Quality of the PL with Social Quality
Loyalty to PL with Social Quality
Percieved effectiveness
Attitude towards PL
Fig. 1. Research Model.
Loyalty to the retailer
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the commitment of the fictional retailer in a process of traceability of its own brand guaranteeing social quality is introduced. This information is made available to consumers in the form of a bar code that they can introduce on the retailer′s website for more details. The questionnaire was administered online among a representative sample of the French population, constituted under the quota method (sex, age and CSP). The T test, comparison of means for independent groups were used to test the effect of disclosure of the social quality of PL on its perceived quality and on the loyalty to the PL and the retailer. The
test of relationship between dependent variables and the role of individual variables were determined with the structural equation model. The role of socio-demographic variables was tested through the use of ANOVA (Table 1).
4. Findings Measures of variables are mobilized using the literature (Table 2). The scale for measuring attitude toward PL was subject to a French
Table 1 Results of ANOVA′s socio-demographic variables Group
Gender
Perceived quality average
Results of variance analysis for the effect of gender on perceived quality of the private label. Group 1 Males 2,9585 Group 2 Females 3,2077 Total 3,0875 Results of variance analysis for the effect of gender on customer loyalty Group Gender Overall loyalty (global) Group 1 Males 2,8777 Group 2 Females 3,0667 Total 2,9755 Results of variance analysis for the effect of age on overall customer loyalty Groups Age Overall Loyalty (global) Group 1 20–34 years 3,0228 Group 2 35–54 years 3,0092 Group 3 55–74 years 2,9894 Group 4 75 years and þ 2,1733 Total 2,9755
F
Sig.
7194
0008
F 4082
Sig. 0044
F 3,908
Sig. 0,009
Table 2 Measures of variables from the conceptual model (Likerts 5 points scale). Items of measure of the perceived quality of PL – I consider this brand as a brand of quality. – Products of this brand are of good quality. – The apparent quality of this brand is very high. Items measuring communication by word of mouth – Say positive things about this brand. – Encourage your friends and acquaintances to buy this brand. Items measuring behavioral intentions – Buy products by this brand. – Consider this brand as your first choice while buying your products. Items for measuring personal values Dimension Values Power Social power, social recognition Achievement Success, self respect Auto focus Curiosity, independence, freedom, creativity Universalism Social justice, equality, a world in peace, harmony, personal protection of the environment Compliance Obedience, self-discipline, respect for parents and aged people Security Family security, sense of belonging Items measuring the perceived effectiveness “I personally do not think having a significant impact on the broad problem of child labor”.“There is no point make fuss (an issue of) about child labor because in any case, I can´t do anything to help”. Items measuring the attitude towards the private label Items of the qualitative perception – In general, PL products are of poor quality. – The PL are less expensive than other brands because they are lower quality. – The low prices charged by PL are the result of the poor quality of these products. Items of the competitiveness dimension – When buying a PL, I really think of what i am getting for my money. – In most cases, PL is usually the best buy. – When buying a PL, I always seem to have made a good deal. – In terms of value for money, I prefer other brands to PL. – I think that PL are good value for money. – I consider that I am getting a bargain by buying a PL.
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translation and a retro translation to ensure fidelity to the original version. To measure the intentional loyalty towards the PL and the retailer, two items were mobilized, measuring the intention to purchase (intention to frequent) and two items measuring the intention to recommend. During the exploratory and confirmatory studies, measures of loyalty to the PL and the retailer did not show discriminating validity and resulted in a composite variable that we call “overall loyalty”. The exploratory and confirmatory analysis of measurements of the dimensions of personal values from Schwartz′s inventory resulted in two dimensions of the values of social power and values of universalism. The results of validation of measuring instruments are summarized below (see Table 3). 4.1. The impact of the social quality of PL on the responses of consumers The first axis of our research was to test the impact of communication of the social quality of PL on its perceived quality, on the loyalty towards the PL and the retailer. The use of t test comparison of means for independent samples (N1 ¼N2 ¼400) revealed the following results (see Table 4): The perceived quality of PL is significantly improved by communicating its social quality with an average of 3.170 for the experimental group and 2.917 for the control group (t ¼ 4.215, P o0.01). H1 is therefore confirmed. Intentional loyalty to the PL and the retailer is significantly improved by communicating the social quality of the PL with an average of 3.0225 for the experimental group and 2.7935 for the
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control group (t¼ 3.923, P o0.01). H2 which tests the effect of social quality on the overall loyalty is also validated. Hence, our results seem to confirm the positive impact of the disclosure of a social commitment of firms on their relationships with their customers. Retailers, in particular, are rewarded with a positive intention of loyalty that occurs through improved perceived quality of their own brands. 4.2. Role of individual variables and profile of the consumer-sensitive to socially responsible PL The results of the global model test obtained through AMOS 7 according to the method of maximum likelihood have been earlier summarized in Table 4a and b. The standardized results were obtained by bootstrap (500 runs). Using this type of analysis helps to overcome the violation of multi normality variables (Didellon and ValetteFlorence, 1996). Our model presents a multivariate kurtosis¼196.252, above the threshold /3/. The procedure thus adopted will create 500 new samples based on extractions from the population. The results show that four of the nine parameters tested with the structural model are positive and significant near the 1% threshold. Adequacy indexes are also satisfactory. For the 400 individuals in the experimental group, competitiveness, a dimension of attitude towards the PL appears to be the most important explanatory factor in the perceived quality of the socially responsible PL, which in turn determines the consumer loyalty to the brand and the retailer. In conformation of our hypotheses, universalism seems to explain the perceived quality by the consumer of the PL with social quality.
Table 3 Psychometric Qualities of the measuring instruments (nControl group). Scales
Final structure
No. of items
ra (CGn)
rvcb (CGn)
Percieved quality of the PL (De Lanauze et Aurier, 2006) Overall loyalty (adapted from the literature) Personal values (Schwartz, 1992)
Uni-dimensional Uni-dimensional Dimension1: universalism Dimension 2: power Uni-dimensional Dimension1: competitiveness Dimension2: qualitative perception
3 5 4 5 2 6 3
0943 (0955) 0942 (0934) 0885 0823 0668 0904 0668
0847(0878) 0764(0738) 0660 0490 0509 0612 0408
Percieved effectiveness (Berger et Kanetkar, 1995) Attitude/PL (Burton et al. 1998)
a b
R: called reliability rho or composite reliability, tests if it may be assumed that a single common factor underlies a set of variables. Rvc: Rhô of Convergent validity is assessed by the correlation among items which make up the scale or instrument measuring a construct.
Table 4 (a) The standardised regression coefficients (λ) and the T of Students. *The standardised regression coefficient reflects the value of the causal relationship between independent variable and dependent variable; **Validation of causation between two variables requires a Student t higher than1.96 in absolute value. Links in the general model
λ*
Test T**
Universe-Percived quality Power-Percived quality Effectiveness-Percived quality Competiveness-Percived quality Universe-Loyalty Power-Loyalty Effectiveness-Loyalty Competiveness-Loyalty Percieved quality-Loyalty
0235 0014 0059 0328 0035 0038 0039 0140 0821
3911 0230 1036 6382 0927 1005 1128 4194 18,983
P ***
NS NS ***
NS NS NS *** ***
(b) Quality of Measure of the Global Model Index Value
RMSEA 0048
NS: Non significant. n
significant to 10%. significant to 5%. nnn significant to 1%. nn
SRMR 0,0399
IFI 0966
TLI 0961
CFI 0966
Chi-square/DF 1933
362
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PL’s competitiveness
Universalism values
0,328
0,235
Perceived Quality of the PL with Social Quality 0,140 0,821 Global Loyalty
role of variables related to the reputation and experience of consumers with the retailer. It would be appropriate to work on an actual retailer and to take into account other variables. The measure of perceived effectiveness seems inappropriate for such an important concept, which in our view explains the insignificant effect of this variable revealed by our study. In addition, data processed in this work are declarative data which reduces the relevance of our contribution. Indeed, a significant gap is often found between the statements of consumers and their actual behavior including responsible consumption. Furthermore, our study could be replicated in different categories of products under private label.
Fig. 2. The Direct Significant Links of the Global Model (N¼ 400).
Appendix 1. Mobilized Scenario for the Experimentation However, even this factor does not seem to influence customer loyalty. Indeed, to our surprise, universalism and the perceived effectiveness of consumer influences in a negative manner the overall consumer loyalty towards the retailer and the socially responsible PL. However, this effect is not significant. The values of power and perceived effectiveness of the consumer does not appear to explain the variations in terms of perceived quality of the PL and overall consumer loyalty to the brand and the retailer. In addition, the use of ANOVA demonstrates a very limited explanatory power of demographic variables like previous studies on socially responsible consumption. However, we found that women have a higher level of perceived quality of the socially responsible PL and global loyalty, higher than that of men. We also noted a higher overall level of loyalty among 20–34 year old than among other age groups. (See Fig. 2)
5. Conclusion Our research suggests that through the communication about the social quality of PL, the latter sees improvement of consumers′ perceived quality and intentional loyalty to the brand and the retailer. Its findings will help retailers (a) to improve their socially responsible positioning in consumer′s mind and (b) determine the socially responsible consumer types to better target the market through a more effective communication strategy. The main results suggest that socially responsible PL reinforce the brand and the retailer in their socially responsible positioning. Moreover, the strongly positive relationship between perceived quality of PL and consumers loyalty to the brand and the retailer suggests increasingly important role of socially responsible PL. In this regard, our work provides additional knowledge, especially on the link between perceived quality of PL and consumer loyalty to the brand and the retailer. Another contribution concerns the profile of the consumers sensitive to socially responsible PL, that is young and females seem to appreciate the values of universalism more than others and show a positive attitude towards socially responsible PL. These results can be used by the retailers in their communication strategies to promote this product category. In fact, our findings will allow retailers first to improve their socially responsible positioning in consumer′s mind. Second, determining which consumer is sensitive to PL′s social quality allowing retailers to better target the market by a more effective communication strategy, in spite of the importance of non-significant assumptions, including socio-demographic nature. Indeed, the role of sociodemographic variables in explaining different forms of socially responsible consumption has always demonstrated its weakness. The determination of the segment of consumers sensitive to socially responsible PL must be based on psychosocial variables such as the values of altruistic nature and consumer′s attitude toward private labels. However, despite its good results, this study is not without limits. Indeed, the use of fictitious scenario depicting a brand neutralizes the
Ecosta is a generalized retail brand, its range extends from the food, to textiles, to craft products, etc. Its head office is in Waddinxween, in the Netherlands. Its record for 2007 proved extremely positive with a turnover of 70 million Euros and a net profit of 1 million Euros. These results can make its owner and main shareholders quite happy: the bank Tribodos and its 76 employees. Since the arrival of its new chief Norbert Engels, Ecosta is experiencing exponential growth through a well developed brand strategy. This is one of the few generalized brands in the world which build its image on a clear positioning that it controls the flow throughout the production chain. Indeed, all references Ecosta offers more than 70% Brand By Brand teaches sign # denotes the products bearing the brand name as trademark (e.g. Auchan, Carrefour…) #. For installation in France, Ecosta plans to expand its referencing with national brand products to meet a wide range of consumers. In addition, Ecosta has created a pilot project called Human and More. Indeed, Ecosta has always attached great importance to transparency and therefore documented all stages of production and processing of textile products of its own brand. These documents adopting social criteria were the basis for developing a unique system of quality certification. E.g. Textiles bearing the logo “Ecosta” covering ready-to-wear for adults and children, products of linen (bed linen, kitchen and bathroom) has a purple label and a unique identification code. By entering the code on the homepage of the website, Human and More has the history of the product and gives an idea of its social quality in terms of human rights and workers. Since 2004, Human and More has the status of an independent foundation4. References Aouina-Mejri, C. and D. Bhatli, 2011, “Responsibly yours: marketing sustainability in retail”. In: Academy of Marketing Science Annual Conference Proceedings. Coral Gables, Florida, USA. Aurier, P., C. Benavent and G. N′goala, 2001, Validité discriminante and prédictive des composantes de la relation à la marque. In: Congrès International de l′ Association Française de Marketing Proceedings. Deauville, France. Beck, W., Van Der Maesen, L.J.G., Thomese, F. and Walker, A. (2001), Social Quality: A Vision for Europe, Klewer Law International. Binninger, A.S., 2007. Les fondements psychologiques et relationnels des marques de distributeurs dans la distribution alimentaire. Décisions Marketing 45, 47–57. Boulding, W., Kalra, A., Staelin, R., Zeithaml, V.A., 1993. A dynamic process model of service quality: from expectations to behavioural intentions. Journal of Marketing Research 30, 7–27. Breton P., 2004. Les marques de distributeurs: les MDD ne sont pas que des copies, LSA, Dunod. 280 P, Paris. Brown, T.J., Dacin, P.A., 1997. The company and the product: corporate associations and consumer product responses. Journal of Marketing 61, 68–84. Burton, S., Lichtenstein, D.R., Nandemeyer, R.G., Garrandson, J.A., 1998. A scale for measuring attitude toward private label products and an examination of its psychological and behavioural correlates. Academy of Marketing Science Journal 26, 293–306.
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