National versus private brand: A regulatory focus perspective

Why do consumers choose a private versus national brand? A between-subjects factorial design was used to address this question in two product categories: shampoo and athletic shoes. Three determining factors were used—regulatory focus: promotion versus prevention; brand types: national versus private; and attribute framing: hedonic versus utilitarian—to predict consumer attitude towards the brand, its ad, and purchase intention. The results provide support for the interactions between regulatory focus and attribute framing for shampoo, and between regulatory focus and brand types for shoes. When exposed to shampoo ads, promotion focused consumers have a more positive attitude toward the ad and a higher purchase intention if the ad features utilitarian rather than hedonic attributes. Further, both promotion and prevention focused consumers prefer national brands of shoes to private labels. One possible explanation may lie in private versus public consumption of shampoo and shoes.