Purpose

There is a range around reference prices, the so-called latitude of price acceptance, where consumers seem insensitive to changes into prices, with these ranges being wider for buyers of private brands. This paper analyses objective price gap between two product alternatives as a main driver of consumer behaviour. Therefore, the authors shed light on whether the price gap conditions consumer-switching behaviour and at what point the price gap triggers a switching pattern.

Design/methodology/approach

Shopping data on two product alternatives of olive oil were obtained from a household scanner panel of Spanish consumers (607 households) with weekly price tracking, and multilevel regression models were performed.

Findings

The results suggest that the price gap has a fundamental effect on the consumers' choice. In this case, up to 1 euro/litre the demand seems almost inelastic; beyond that price gap, the demand for the finer product plummets.

Research limitations/implications

This study focussed on olive oil products. The research needs to be extended other food products.

Originality/value

The authors contribute to the literature by documenting how the price context measured in terms of a price gap is a relevant stimulus in consumer choices, with a focus on the change in price sensitivity between product alternatives when competing brands are not involved but private brands are.

中文翻译：

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消费者如何应对自有品牌农产品的价格差距？

目的

参考价格存在一个范围，即所谓的价格接受范围，消费者似乎对价格的变化不敏感，对于私有品牌的购买者来说，这些范围会更大。本文分析了两种产品替代品之间的客观价格差距，这是消费者行为的主要驱动力。因此，作者阐明了价格差距是否制约了消费者的转换行为，以及价格差距在什么时候触发了转换模式。

设计/方法/方法

从西班牙消费者（607户）的家庭扫描仪面板中获得了两种橄榄油替代品的购物数据，并每周进行了价格跟踪，并执行了多级回归模型。

发现

结果表明，价格差距对消费者的选择具有根本性的影响。在这种情况下，高达1欧元/升的需求似乎几乎没有弹性。超出该价格差距后，对优质产品的需求直线下降。

研究局限/意义

这项研究的重点是橄榄油产品。该研究需要扩展其他食品。

创意/价值

作者通过记录以价格差距衡量的价格环境是消费者选择中的相关刺激因素，为文献做出了贡献，着重研究了当竞争品牌不参与而私有品牌参与时，产品替代品之间的价格敏感性变化。