Healthy breakfast perceptions: comparing private labels and national brands.

Purpose In recent years, retailers' private labels (PLs) have increasingly established themselves as alternatives to national brands not only in terms of price but also regarding product quality and health-related attributes. However, it remains unclear which cues (intrinsic and extrinsic) guide consumers' perceptions of product healthiness in food retailing, and whether their effects differ between PLs and NBs in everyday supermarket choices. This research examines the influence of intrinsic factors (e.g. taste) and extrinsic factors (e.g. product name) on consumers' perceived healthiness across two breakfast food categories (biscuits and cereals), comparing PL and NB products. Design/methodology/approach A survey involving 876 Italian grocery shoppers was conducted. Data were collected through an online survey administered by a market research company to ensure sample representativeness in the Italian context and the generalisability of the results obtained. They were analysed using ANOVA, factor analysis and regression models. Findings Results reveal no significant difference in perceived healthiness between PLs and NBs. However, intrinsic cues are found to have a stronger positive effect on perceived product healthiness than extrinsic ones. Originality/value The study offers theoretical implications regarding perceptions of different brands and branding strategies, suggesting a maturation of PLs in grocery retailing and their ability to compete with NB products in satisfying consumers' health-related needs.