Assessing Price-Quality Related Perceptions in Private Labeled Apparels

The Investment Commission of India has projected a three times growth in retail market in India by 2016, and organized retail will occupy almost 16 percent (US $165 billion) of the same. Apparel, along with food and grocery, will lead the organized retailing in India. Hence, the present study is undertaken to identify major price and related dimensions and quality related perceptions influencing the purchase of private label apparels. The final study involved a survey conducted for 608 respondents in Ahmedabad, Baroda and Surat cities of Gujarat from the retail stores of Pantaloon, Westside, Globus and Big-Bazar between December 2012 and April 2013. The sampling technique used was cluster followed by stratified sampling through mall intercept. A factor analysis revealed the existence of five price dimensions influencing the purchase of private label apparels, namely; value maximization, sale proneness, price consciousness, price mavenism and prestige sensitivity. As far as quality related perceptions were concerned, it was observed that consumers gave more importance to intrinsic cues as compared to extrinsic cues in private label apparels. A positive correlation of moderate level existed between price and quality.