THE ROLE OF MARKETING FACTORS IN THE PERCEPTION OF QUALITY BETWEEN PRIVATE LABELS AND MANUFACTURER BRANDS

Privatne marke su se od svog prvog pojavljivanja na tržištu pa sve do danas značajno poboljšale kako u kvaliteti tako i u segmentu marketinga i tehnologije u proizvodnji. Dugi niz godina su bile percipirane kao proizvodi niske kvalitete te su potrošači imali rezervirani stav prema njima. Zahvaljujući upornosti distributera i njihovoj želji da konkuriraju i ostvare prednost nad proizvođačkim markama, privatne marke danas nude proizvod iste ili bolje kvalitete od proizvođačke marke. Brojna provedena istraživanja o percepciji kvalitete u kategoriji prehrambenih proizvoda su pokazala da potrošači različito percipiraju proizvod i njegovu kvalitetu ovisno o tome o kojoj marki je riječ. Kada se potrošače traži da odaberu isti proizvod od kojih je jedan proizvođačka marka, a drugi privatna marka prednost ostvaruju proizvođačke marke dok s druge strane kada se provodi slijepi test gdje se ne vidi o kojoj marki je riječ prednost ostvaruju privatne marke. Važnost marketinških čimbenika se upravo ogleda u njihovom utjecaju na percepciju potrošača kroz čimbenike promotivnih aktivnosti, ambalaže, inovativnosti proizvoda i cjenovne promocije. Cilj ovog diplomskog rada je definirati ulogu marketinških čimbenika u percepciji razlike u kvaliteti između privatne i proizvođačke marke te je provedeno jednokratno opisno istraživanje u obliku anketnog upitnika na prigodnom uzorku od 101 ispitanika. Istraživanje je provedeno online na dvije kategorije proizvoda čokolade i čipsa te je za mjerenje rezultata korištena Likertova skala. Rezultati istraživanja su pokazali da cjenovne promocije i oglašavanje kao marketinški čimbenici imaju pozitivnu ulogu u percepciji razlike u kvaliteti u obje kategorije proizvoda, no do razlike u rezultatima dolazi kod inovativnosti proizvoda jer u kategoriji čokolade ovaj marketinški čimbenik ima važnu ulogu u percepciji razlike u kvaliteti između privatne i proizvođačke marke. S druge strane, u kategoriji čipsa uloga inovativnosti proizvoda kao marketinškog čimbenika skupa s ambalažom proizvoda nije od presudne važnosti odnosno ispitanici imaju neutralan stav.From their first appearance on the market until today, private labels have significantly improved both in quality and in the segment of marketing and production technology. For many years, they were perceived as low quality products and consumers had reserved attitudes towards them. Thanks to the persistence of distributors and their desire to compete and create an advantage over national brands, private labels today offer a product of the same or better quality than manufacturer brands. Numerous studies on the perception of quality in the category of food products have shown that consumers perceive the product differently and its quality depending on which brand they evaluate. When consumers are asked to choose the same product, one of which is a national brand and the other a private label, the advantage is gained by national brands, while on the other hand when a blind test is conducted where respondents do not see the brand, private brands have an advantage. The importance of marketing factors is reflected in their impact on consumer perception through factors of promotional activities, packaging, product innovation and price promotion. The aim of this thesis is to define the role of marketing factors in the perception of the difference in quality between private and manufacturer brands and descriptive survey was conducted in the form of a questionnaire on a sample of 101 respondents. The research was conducted online on two product categories - chocolate and potato chips. The Likert scale was used to measure the results. The results of the research showed that price promotions and advertising as marketing factors have a positive role in the perception of quality differences in both product categories, but the difference in results occurs when it comes to product innovation because in the chocolate category this marketing factor plays an important role in perceiving quality differences between private and manufacturing brands. On the other hand, in the chips category, the role of product innovation as a marketing factor together with product packaging is not crucial, ie respondents have a neutral attitude