Contrary to the existing theories of private label (PL) products, we demonstrate that the introduction of a PL product by a retailer may improve the profit of the supplier of a competing national-brand (NB) product. Our theory is built on two main elements. First, the introduction of a PL product may expand the total demand for the products carried by the retailer and thus enlarge the joint profit to be split between the retailer and the supplier of the NB product. Second, in an environment where consumers do not know the quality of the PL product, the NB serves as a bond to assure consumers that the retailer sells high-quality products only. This quality assurance enhances the joint profit generated by the introduction of the PL product, which, in conjunction with the weakening of the retailer's bargaining position caused by asymmetric information, may enable the NB supplier to earn a larger profit than in the absence of the PL product.

中文翻译：

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信息不对称下的自有品牌与产品质量

与现有的自有品牌 (PL) 产品理论相反，我们证明零售商引入 PL 产品可能会提高竞争性国家品牌 (NB) 产品供应商的利润。我们的理论建立在两个主要元素之上。首先，PL产品的推出可能会扩大零售商对产品的总需求量，从而扩大零售商和NB产品供应商之间的联合利润分配。其次，在消费者不知道 PL 产品质量的环境中，NB 作为一种纽带，向消费者保证零售商只销售高质量的产品。这种质量保证提高了引入 PL 产品所产生的联合利润，这与零售商的弱化相结合。