RETAILER BRAND NAME FOOD PRODUCTS RECOGNITION AMONG CUSTOMERS

Živimo v času nove ekonomije, v katerem postajajo za podjetja na področju trženja vedno bolj pomembne blagovne znamke in njihovo vrednotenje. Pomen blagovnih znamk se je v zadnjem desetletju izjemno povečal, saj odjemalci večinoma ne kupujemo več izdelkov, temveč blagovne znamke. Lastne blagovne znamke predstavljajo trgovskim podjetjem priložnost, da si povečajo dobiček, ugled in tudi pogajalsko moč do proizvajalcev. Prvi izdelki s trgovinsko blagovno znamko so se v Evropi pojavili že konec 19. stoletja. Na področju prehrambnih izdelkov pa je trgovinska blagovna znamka doživela večji razmah šele po drugi svetovni vojni. Večina izdelkov s trgovinsko blagovno znamko je v Sloveniji na drugi razvojni stopnji, kar pomeni, da želijo trgovska podjetja privabiti odjemalce predvsem z zagotovitvijo ugodnega razmerja med ceno izdelka in njegovo kakovostjo. Ker pa na uspeh trgovinske blagovne znamke vpliva tudi njena prepoznavnost pri odjemalcih, sem v diplomskem delu poskušala ugotoviti, ali odjemalci poznajo in kupujejo trgovinske blagovne znamke prehrambnih izdelkov podjetij Spar, Marcator, Tuš, Hofer in Lidl. Diplomsko delo je sestavljeno iz dveh delov, teoretičnega in empiričnega. V prvem delu so najprej predstavljena teoretična izhodišča o različnih opredelitvah in vrstah blagovnih znamk, njihovih funkcijah, vrednosti in pravni zaščiti, navedenih pa je tudi deset karakteristik svetovno najmočnejših blagovnih znamk. Sledi opredelitev trgovinske blagovne znamke in njen razvoj, prednosti in slabosti trgovinske blagovne znamke ter predstavitev trgovinske blagovne znamke na slovenskem trgu in motivov odjemalcev za nakup izdelkov s trgovinsko blagovno znamko. V empiričnem delu naloge pa so predstavljene trgovinske blagovne znamke podjetij Spar, Mercator, Tuš, Hofer in Lidl, raziskovalni vzorec, metodologija in interpretacija rezultatov raziskave. Z raziskavo, ki je bila izvedena s pomočjo anketnega vprašalnika, sem ugotovila, da je prepoznavnost trgovinskih blagovnih znamk prehrambnih izdelkov pri odjemalcih zelo velika. Odjemalci se vedno pogosteje odločajo za nakup tovrstnih izdelkov, najpomembnejši dejavnik, ki vpliva na nakup, pa ni cena, temveč kakovost izdelkov.We live in a new economy era, where brands and trademarks increasingly gain their importance, and marketing companies prioritize their evaluations. In the last decade, the importance of the trademarks and brands unprecedentedly increased, because customers generally do not buy the products, but their brands instead. In their own trademarks, the retailers see the opportunity to increase their profits, reputation and negotiating power towards the manufacturers. The first trademark products in Europe were established at the end of the 19th century. In the field of food products, the trademarking has experienced the greater expansion after the Second World War. Most of the trademark products in Slovenia are at the second stage of development, which means that the retailers tend to attract the customers by providing a favorable ratio between the price and the product quality. However, since the success of the trademarks also affects their recognition to the end customers, my principal goal in this thesis was to determine, whether the customers are familiar the store trademarks of food products, and decide to purchase them. The wholesalers included in my research were Spar, Marcator, Tuš, Hofer and Lidl. The thesis comprises of two parts, the theoretical and the empirical. The first part of this diploma outlines the theoretical foundations, various definitions and types of trademarks, their functions, values and legal protection. It also presents ten characteristics of the world\u27s most powerful brands. Then the definition of the trademark and its development, as well as the store trademark advantages and disadvantages in the Slovenian market and customer motivations to purchase the trademark products are highlighted. The empirical part presents the retailer trademarks of Spar, Mercator, Tuš, Hofer and Lidl, the research sample, the methodology used and, finally, outlines the research results. The survey conducted through a questionnaire proved that the customers’ recognition of the retailer brands of food products is very high. The customers increasingly choose to purchase such products, and the most prominent factor affecting the purchase is not the price, but the quality of the products