Brand Pricing in a Recession

A study, by in‐home interviews using a fully structured questionnaire with 80 consumers of mineral waters and 86 consumers of fruit juice – grocery products where advertising had either been continuously increased or decreased: results suggests that consumer awareness of price for either brands or competing own‐label products is very limited. However, with reference pricing, price recall improved. Discusses these findings in the context of a literature review on price and perceived quality and then evaluates them for the grocery products in question. Uncovers evidence of underpricing where advertising investment had been consistently increased to support the added‐value perceptions of brands. In conclusion, discusses the pricing relationship between brands and own‐labels, and urges manufacturers to reassess the consumer value of their brands in tests before competing on lower prices.