DETERMINANTS INFLUENCING CONSUMER'S LOYALTY TOWARDS A PRIVATE BRAND

In modern consumer society, consumers become all the more demanding with the right to possess the final statement on selection of a product, and thus the role of a brand as a means of communication is the key, since brands are powerful enough to attract and keep a consumer. Consumers create a relationship with a brand based on quality guarantee and positive experience. The main purpose of this paper is to explore determinants influencing consumer’s loyalty towards a private brand. The research is based on private brand R-Time owned by the trade chain Robot. Data were collected through a field survey, and the sample consisted of 439 respondents. Data were analyzed using SEM analysis. The results of the survey show that the determinants of price and quality perception affect consumers' loyalty towards a product of the private brand RTime, whereas there is no difference among tested ethnocentric and non-ethnocentric group of consumers. Building on our results, retailers are encouraged to scrutinize both price and quality perception of their own brands, in order to build long-term consumerbrand loyalty. The novelty and value of this research is reflected in the fact that the given results confirm that the size of the effect of price and quality perception on private brand loyalty among ethnocentric and non-ethnocentric consumers is not significant, so there is no need for retailers to focus on highlighting the brand’s domestic origins. The main limitations of the study are related to data collection process, in terms of geographical coverage and product category. These limitations constitute areas for future research.