Effects of Private and Public Label Packaging on Consumer Purchase Patterns

The evaluation of package branding is important to determine its ability to connect with consumers on an emotional level. In the past, focus groups have been the traditional method used to evaluate branding; however, focus groups can be seen as an inaccurate method of gathering data due to purely qualitative data collection. This paper presents a retail shopping experiment conducted in CUShop?, a consumer experience laboratory, to determine whether consumers prefer a public label product versus a private label product, utilizing eye tracking to analyse the decision‐making process. Results illustrated that purchase decision as well as time spent observing packaging indicates that participants preferred public branded packaging with respect to its private label competitor. Copyright © 2013 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.