Prior research has demonstrated that perceived quality is a driver of store brand (SB) success. Unfortunately for retailers, consumers often perceive SBs to be of poorer quality than the national brand (NB) competition. Since store brands appeal predominantly to price-conscious (and not quality-conscious) consumers, retailers desiring to grow store brand share are left with the difficult task of maintaining SB’s attractiveness to price-conscious shoppers (i.e., by keeping SB costs low) while also trying to increase the appeal of SBs to quality-conscious consumers (i.e., by improving the actual or perceived quality of SBs). Initiatives involving increased advertising or improved inputs may be too costly to warrant serious consideration. In the current research, we explore an alternate mechanism—that is, in-store sampling—to enhance shoppers’ SB quality perceptions.

Though retailers generally do not provide SB samples to consumers on a large scale, we contend that such a strategy represents a relatively low cost means of enhancing perceived quality and ultimately store brand equity. The perceived quality literature indicates that consumers who experience a brand and its intrinsic attributes are likely to rely less on brand name when forming quality judgments as compared to situations when such experience is unavailable. It follows that any product-quality advantages possessed by NBs should be reduced (or perhaps eliminated) when consumers are able to sample a SB. Two studies test the ability of sampling to enhance store brand’s perceived quality (study 1) and whether this effect is contingent on the store brand’s quality level (study 2).

The experiment in study 1 examined two new grocery items (a mixed-fruit drink and household cleaner) and tested whether product sampling improved quality perceptions of a store brand as compared to more familiar and stronger national brand. In a mixed-factorial design, patrons of a local flea market were exposed to packaging information for both products. Brand status (either national or store brand) and product usage experience (use or not use a “new” product) were manipulated as between-participants factors. Both products produced similar patterns of results. For the NB, perceived quality was little influenced by product sampling. In other words, the juice tasting and cleaning experiences for these brands provided minimal information beyond what was contained in the brand name itself. For the SB, quality evaluations were substantially improved by virtue of having tasted the juice or having cleaned with the cleaner. Mean quality ratings for both store brand products were over 30 percent more favorable for those using the products than those who only evaluated the items; by contrast, perceived quality ratings for the national brand shifted less than 10 percent.

As compared to the first study, study 2 involved a different product category (orange juice), an alternate sampling frame (college students), and included an expanded manipulation of the product sampling experience (either high- or low-quality juice). As with study 1, participants were exposed to packaging graphics for either a national brand or store brand and then did (or did not) taste the juice before evaluating its perceived quality. Although study 2 was conducted under different conditions than study 1, the results are similar. Of note, study 2 demonstrated that SB sampling augments evaluations only if the sampled brand is of high quality. When the sampled offering is of low-quality, perceived quality is harmed rather than improved. Study 2 therefore establishes product quality as a limiting condition for the effect of in-store sampling of store brands. Essentially, SB sampling is only advisable for retailers who offer products of high quality.

The current research presents experimental evidence from two studies why it is advantageous to retailers to sample store brands. Sampling provides retail shoppers with firsthand, probative reasons for making favorable quality judgments that would not be the case when such evaluations are based on price and brand name alone. Given that perceived quality influences the purchase rates of store brands, it is reasonable to conclude that retailers can increase SB purchase trial and perhaps brand/store loyalty by using SB sampling more extensively.