Journal of Retailing and Consumer Services 19 (2012) 360367

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Journal of Retailing and Consumer Services

journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/jretconser

Effects of store image and store brand price-image on store brand purchase
intention: Application to an emerging market
Mbaye Fall Diallo n
Faculty of Applied Economics University Paul Cezanne, 1519 Allee Claude Forbin 13627 Aix-en-Provence, France

a r t i c l e i n f o

a b s t r a c t

Available online 3 April 2012

Several factors have been underlined to explain store brands (SBs) purchase behavior. This research
investigates jointly the effect of store image perceptions, SB price-image and perceived risk toward SBs
on SB purchase intention in the context of an emerging market (Brazil). Data were collected from a
consumer survey with 379 respondents randomly selected. Structural equation modeling was used to
test the hypothesized relationships. Our results show that store image perceptions and SB price-image
inuence signicantly SB purchase intention directly or indirectly via the effect of perceived risk
toward SBs. These ndings are discussed and their theoretical and managerial implications are
provided.
& 2012 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Keywords:
SB purchase intention
Store image
SB price-image
Perceived risk
Brazil

1. Introduction
Store Brands (hereafter SBs) have been increasingly investigated
by marketing scholars and focused retail managers interest
(Hyman et al., 2010). SBs experienced a phenomenal growth in
various product categories during the past years (Baltas and
Argouslidis, 2007). Today, SBs are growing faster than manufacturer brands (Kumar and Steenkamp, 2007). According to Grewal
and Levy (2009, p.523), we saw increasing evidence of store
brands with similar quality levels coupled with 1015% lower
prices than those charged by national brands [hereafter, NBs].
There are many incentives for retailers to create store brand
programs such as building store loyalty, increasing store trafc,
enhancing negotiation strength toward manufacturers, etc. (Baltas
and Argouslidis, 2007). For retailers, SBs become a reliable means
to increase sales quickly at a relatively low cost. Consumers are
also willing to purchase private brands products (PLMA, 2009) and
are delighted to have SBs ranges available in grocery stores. Several
factors drive consumer willingness to purchase SB products such as
demographic factors (Baltas and Argouslidis, 2007), economic
factors (Lamey et al., 2007) and psychographics (Garretson et al.,
2002; Jin and Suh, 2005; Kara et al., 2009). In Western countries,
SBs penetration exceeds 50% of sales by volume in Switzerland and
more than 35% in major markets like the United Kingdom, Belgium,
Germany and Spain (Lamey et al., 2007).
However, the increased globalization of economic activities
has created opportunities for retailers in so-called emerging

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markets (EMs, from now on) in general and especially in BRIC

nations (Brazil, India, China and Russia). Furthermore, the competitive pressure in Western countries retail sectors had lead
global retailers (Wal-Mart, Carrefour, etc.) to lay more focus on
these markets. In such a context, it becomes paramount that retail
scholars conduct more research on SBs in EMs in the same way as
some authors (e.g., Burgess and Steenkamp, 2006) called for more
research in EMs in order to improve validity of ndings in the
marketing science. Consequently, the aim of this research is to
investigate the inuence of two image constructs (store image
and SB price-image) on consumer SB purchase intention while
taking into consideration the mediating role of perceived risk
toward SBs. Most of past research focused on the inuence of
perceptual, personality and demographic factors on SB purchase
intention (Jin and Suh, 2005).
Three main contributions are expected from this research.
First, we investigate the issue of store image perceptions which
becomes crucial as consumers use store image cues in their
buying process (Richardson et al., 1994). Second, we lay the
emphasis on the concept of SB price-image which is broader than
price consciousness and which allows us to take into account the
multidimensionality of price perceptions as advocated by some
authors (e.g., Zielke, 2008). Third, we investigate the mediating
inuence of perceived risk toward SBs on the relationships
between our variables of interest. Extent research has demonstrated the inuence of perceived risk on SB purchase behavior in
Western countries (e.g., Liljander et al., 2009), but little is known
about this relationship in EMs such as Brazil which is less
investigated than other EMs like China or India.
The remaining of the paper is organized as follows: rst, we
present the theoretical framework and the hypotheses development;

M.F. Diallo / Journal of Retailing and Consumer Services 19 (2012) 360367

361

second, we develop the research methodology; third, the results are

detailed; and nally, we propose theoretical and managerial implications of the ndings and point out limitations and research orientations for future studies.

is related to SB purchase intention (Jin and Suh, 2005), we

anticipate that store image perceptions will inuence SB purchase
intention following Grewal et al. (1998). Therefore:

2. Conceptualization and hypotheses development

Previous research has widely investigated the relationship

between store image and perceived risk (Mitchell, 2001;
Liljander et al., 2009) and that of perceived risk and SB purchase
intention (Delvecchio, 2001; Liljander et al., 2009). Batra and
Sinha (2000) and Richardson et al. (1994) have shown that
perceived risk is important to understand consumer behavior
toward SBs (e.g., willingness to buy SB products). Perceived risk
refers to the individuals subjective belief about potentially
negative consequences from his/her decision behavior and has
been investigated by Bauer in his seminal work (Bauer, 1960). In
fact, for Bauer (1960), consumers refer to perceived risk in the
sense that any action of a consumer will produce consequences
which he cannot anticipate with certainty. Perceived risk has
been considered in the literature as the product of two dimensions: the perceived consequences of behavior and the likelihood
or the impact of their occurrence (Dowling, 1986; Peter and Ryan,
1976). However, some researchers posited that as the likelihood
and the impact of occurring are strongly related, the impact
aspect can be considered redundant (Peter and Ryan, 1976).
Several dimensions of perceived risk have been measured including overall risk, functional or physical risk, nancial risk,
performance risk, etc. (see Smeijn et al., 2004; Liljander et al.,
2009).
Previous research has shown that store image inuences
perceived risk. For instance, Liljander et al. (2009) demonstrated
that store image quality negatively inuences perceived nancial
risk while store image atmospherics negatively inuence social
risk. The inuence of perceived risk on purchase intention has
been also proven (Mieres et al., 2006; Liljander et al., 2009). For
example, Liljander et al. (2009) have empirically demonstrated
that consumers perceived nancial risk of buying store-branded
apparel products negatively inuences SB purchase intentions.
Based on the discussion above, we propose:

Store brands (SBs), termed also as private label brands (PLB) or

own brands, are brands owned and sold by a retailer in its own
outlets. According to Ailawadi and Keller (2004, p.332), one goal
of SBs is to identify the goods and services of a retailer and
differentiate (s) them from those of competitors. For Jin and Suh
(2005), most of the consumer factors associated with SB purchase
behavior can be grouped in three categories: personality (e.g.,
Burton et al., 1998), perceptual (e.g., Garretson et al., 2002), and
socioeconomic (e.g., Baltas and Argouslidis, 2007). In previous
studies, consumer perceptual characteristics such as price-quality
perception, perceived quality, value consciousness, price consciousness, etc. were widely investigated (Burton et al., 1998;
Kara et al., 2009). We refer here to SB purchase intention to
operationalize consumer purchase behavior toward SBs. In fact,
purchase intention data are frequently used by marketing managers to make strategic decisions about both new and existing SB
products and the marketing programs that support them. Purchase intention refers to a consumer tendency to purchase a
brand routinely in the future and resist switching to other brands.
In this research, we argue that image factors (store image
perceptions and SB price-image) and perceived risk are important
determinants of SB purchase intention.
2.1. Store image perceptions-perceived risk toward SBs and/or SB
purchase intention
One of the earlier denitions of store image was given by
Martineau (1958). He posited that the store image is dened in
the shoppers mind, partly by the functional qualities and partly
by an aura of psychological attributes. Store image develops from
consumers objective and subjective perceptions learned over
time. Subsequent conceptions of store image have taken into
account the interactions among attribute perceptions (Hartman
and Spiro, 2005). Lindquist (1974) conceptualized store image
structure across nine dimensions merchandise, service, clientele, physical facilities, convenience, promotion, store ambience,
institutional factors and post transaction satisfaction. These
dimensions have been widely studied and discussed in previous
research and most of them are incorporated into store image
scales (e.g., Grewal et al., 1998; Smeijn et al., 2004). Most of the
time, store image is considered as a multi-dimensional concept
including various aspects of the retail store. In fact, it is known
that consumers use different cues when evaluating a retail store
image (cue utilization theory, see Richardson et al., 1994). For
instance, Smeijn et al. (2004) conceptualized store image as a
concept of three dimensions comprising layout, merchandise and
service.
Previous research demonstrated that store image perceptions
inuence positively SB purchase intention (Grewal et al., 1998;
Liljander et al., 2009). According to the cue utilization theory,
store image can be a determinant of product quality (Richardson
et al., 1994; Smeijn et al., 2004). Besides, we can consider SBs to
be a brand extension of the store. Brand extension research
supports the idea that store associations and evaluations can be
generalized to SB (Collins-Dodd and Lindley, 2003). As store
image perceptions provide a highly relevant cue for the SB, they
can act like the original brand, providing a basis for overall SB
quality (Collins-Dodd and Lindley, 2003). As SB perceived quality

Hypothesis 1. Store image perceptions will have a positive and

direct inuence on SB purchase intention.

Hypothesis 2. Store image perceptions will have a positive and

direct inuence on perceived risk toward SBs.
Hypothesis 3. Perceived risk toward SBs will have a negative and
direct inuence on SB purchase intention.
Hypothesis 4. Store image perception will have a positive and
indirect inuence on SB purchase intention through perceived
risk toward SBs.
2.2. SB price-image-perceived risk toward SBs and/or SB purchase
intention
Price-image perceptions are considered as a part of a retailers
store image (Lindquist, 1974) but the two concepts are different
(Zielke, 2010). To the best of our knowledge, SB price-image has
not yet been dened in previous research. However, we can infer
its denition from the denition of store price-image. Store priceimage is dened as a global representation of the relative level of
prices (Martineau, 1958; Mazursky and Jacoby, 1986; etc.).
Following this denition, we can dene SB price-image as a global
representation of the relative level of SB products prices for a
given retailer. Some researchers dened and conceptualized
price-image with one dimension with low prices or price-level
image (e.g., Zeithaml, 1988). However, other researchers consider
this concept as multidimensional. For instance, Zielke (2010)
identied ve different components of price-image (price-level