Ecolabels as quality cues: Qualitative assessment of consumers’ perceptions of premium private labels and attached ecolabels
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School of Business |
Master's thesis
Authors
Date
2022
Department
Major/Subject
Mcode
Degree programme
Marketing
Language
en
Pages
76 + 16
Series
Abstract
The aim of this thesis is to understand whether the ecolabels influence consumers’ assessment of the quality of the premium private labels. In addition, this study aims to find out what kind of cues the consumers utilize when they are evaluating the quality of premium private labels. The purpose is to use semi-structured interviews to explore (1) what is included in the contemporary consumers’ buying criteria and quality assessment of food groceries, (2) how consumers evaluate the quality of premium private label products, (3) how consumers evaluate ecolabels and (4) do ecolabels influence consumers’ quality assessment of the premium private labels. The theoretical framework of the study is based on the cue utilization theory. From previous research, it is evident that while there exists a lot of research about private labels and cue utilization theory, the previous research has not studied how ecolabels might influence consumers’ quality assessment of the premium private label product. Therefore, this study contributes to the previous research by investigating if the ecolabels can be defined as quality cues and do they influence consumers’ assessment of the quality of premium private labels. This qualitative study is based on eight semi-structured interviews with bachelor’s and master’s level business students or recent graduates from Aalto University School of Business. Through data analysis, it was found that the consumers judge the quality of premium private labels through primary and secondary cues. The primary cues, which influence the quality assessment the most, include (1) brand name, (2) store brand, (3) familiarity with the brand and the product, and 4) distinctive packaging. Ecolabels influence the quality assessment as secondary cues, often supporting the already formed quality assessment. The only ecolabels which had the potential to influence positively the quality assessment of were Finnish origin labels and the most popular, third-party certified ecolabels such as the organic and Fairtrade ecolabels. If the consumer was sceptic about the quality of the ecolabel or was not familiar with the ecolabel, the label acted as a neutral or negative cue. Additionally, if the consumers interpreted some of the ecolabels to increase risks regarding the quality of the product, in some cases the ecolabel potentially led to the rejection of the product. This study provides important insights to the brand managers of premium private labels as it sheds light on how to create an adequate ecolabelling strategy for premium private labels which supports the desired premium image of products.Description
Thesis advisor
Töytäri, PekkaKeywords
cue utilization theory, premium private labels, ecolabels, quality assessment