The role of packaging in the risk perception of private label cosmetics products

Predmet ovog diplomskog rada je uloga ambalaže u percepciji rizika privatnih marki kozmetičkih proizvoda. Danas je na tržištu dostupan veliki broj privatnih marki. Može se slobodno reći da proizvodi pod privatnom markom predstavljaju veliku prijetnju proizvodima poznatih proizvođačkih marki zbog niže cijene, nižih troškova proizvodnje te veće kontrole kreiranja samog asortimana ponude i općenito fleksibilnije politika cijena. Treba naglasiti da niska cijena nije dovoljna kako bi se privukli i zadržali potrošači već je bitna i kvaliteta proizvoda. Kvaliteta proizvoda privatnih marki zadnjih nekoliko godina značajno je porasla i to su potrošači prepoznali no i dalje uz njih vežu određenu razinu percipiranog rizika. Privatne marke dostupne su u gotovo svim kategorijama, uključujući i kategoriju kozmetičkih proizvoda. Osim cijene i kvalitete potrošačima je bitna i ambalaža pomoću koje mogu saznati sve bitne informacije o proizvodu i po tome mogu zaključiti je li taj proizvod namijenjen da zadovolji njihove potrebe. Ambalaža je izrazito važna jer osim što štiti proizvod služi kao poveznica između kupca i tržišta. Cilj rada je istražiti ulogu ambalaže u percepciji rizika privatnih marki kozmetičkih proizvoda. Kako bi se ostvario postavljeni cilj provedeno je istraživanje putem anketnog upitnika na namjernom uzorku od 113 ispitanika. Rezultati istraživanja pokazuju nisku percepciju rizika privatnih maraka u kategoriji kozmetičkih proizvoda. Točnije rečeno rezultati istraživanja, za razliku od nekih prethodnih istraživanja, pokazuju da su potrošači skloni kupovini privatnih marki osobito u kategoriji kozmetičkih proizvoda te bi ih rado preporučili. Rezultati pokazuju da je potrošači percipiraju najvišu razinu funkcionalnog rizika što znači da ponekad sumnjaju u sastojke koji se koriste u proizvodnji kozmetičkog proizvoda određene privatne marke.The subject of this thesis is the role of packaging in the risk perception of private brands of cosmetic products. A large number of private brands are available on the market today. It is safe to say that private label products represent a major threat to products of well-known manufacturers' brands due to lower prices, lower production costs, greater control over the creation of the product range itself, and a more flexible pricing policy in general. It should be emphasized that a low price is not enough to attract and retain consumers, but the quality of the product is also important. The quality of private label products has increased significantly in the last few years and consumers have recognized this but still associate certain level of perceived risk when buying private labels. Private labels are available in almost all categories, including the cosmetics category. In addition to price and quality, the packaging is also important to consumers, with the help of which they can find out all the important information about the product and from this they can conclude whether the product is intended to meet their needs. Packaging is extremely important because, in addition to protecting the product, it serves as a link between the customer and the market. The aim of the paper is to investigate the role of packaging in the risk perception of private brands of cosmetic products. In order to achieve the set goal, research was conducted using a questionnaire on a purposive sample of 113 respondents. The results of the research show a low risk perception of private labels in the category of cosmetic products. More precisely, the results of the research, in contrast to some previous research, show that consumers are inclined to buy private brands, especially in the category of cosmetic products, and would be happy to recommend them. The results show that consumers perceive it as the highest level of functional risk, which means that they sometimes doubt the ingredients used in the production of a certain private label cosmetic product