Own labels choice criteria and perceived characteristics in Greece and Scotland: factors influencing the willingness to buy

The growth of own label brands of products offered by supermarket chains is changing the “rules of the game” when managing fast moving consumer good products. A lot is written on the development of these brands and the consumers' behaviour in regions where their use is widely spread, but not in other markets. This paper compared the importance of choice criteria when purchasing own label and national brands and the perceived characteristics of the products carrying store and manufacturer brands in two regions of the European Union where the development of own label brands is at a different stage, Greece and Scotland. The results indicate that own label and manufacturer brands have an overall different positioning; Greeks are less familiar with own label products and assess them somewhat differently than the Scots, while several own label related attributes may be good predictors of the loyalty to the supermarket.