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GREEN BRANDING: STORE BRANDS VERSUS NATIONAL BRANDS
Next to brand manufacturers, retailers are increasingly incorporating ‘green’ issues in their store brands. Although a lot of studies are devoted to comparing store brands with national brands (e.g., Steenkamp et al., 2010), there is limited research that compares these two types of brands in a ‘green’ context. This study investigated what factors influence the consumption of ‘green’ store brands and national brands by focusing on three important determinants: brand equity, store image and brand identification.Different models are tested in which we incorporate both mediating and moderating effects of these constructs on green brand consumption. Using the context of organic food brands, we conducted a longitudinal online panel study among consumers in Australia, Canada, Germany, the Netherlands, the UK and the US. Participants completed a self-administered questionnaire and, for each country, received either a questionnaire on store brands (n = 562) or on national brands (n = 302). Multiple regression analyses showed that for store brands, brand equity and brand identification had a positive direct effect on brand consumption. Additional analyses indicated that brand equity was not mediated by store image, but that store image moderated the effect of brand equity on brand consumption. For national brands, store image and brand identification had a positive direct effect on brand consumption. Mediation analysis showed partial mediation of brand equity by store image. We did not find a moderating effect of brand equity on brand consumption for national brands.Our findings indicate that for ‘green’ store brands, the relationship between brand equity and consumption is strengthened by consumers’ image of the store. In contrast, for national brands, the relationship between consumers’ brand equity and brand consumption is not strengthened but actually partially determined by the current image of the store where that brand is sold. In addition, identification with the green brand seems to play an important role in brand consumption for both store brands and national brands.
