Exploring the relationships between retail brands and consumer store loyalty

Purpose – Retail brands (RBs) have become a strategic feature of the grocery industry. Their role in building consumer loyalty is usually taken for granted and yet has not been completely identified. The purpose of this paper is to raise the question of the relationship between RBs and store loyalty. Design/methodology/approach – Correlations, simple and multiple regressions were carried out, and the mediating and moderating nature of two variables was verified according to Baron and Kenny's recommendations. Findings – The results show that the increase in RB satisfaction and loyalty influences store loyalty, and that attitude toward RB products has a moderating effect on the relationships between RB satisfaction and loyalty. They also show that this moderating influence is greater for an identifiable retail brand than for an unidentifiable retail brand. Research limitations/implications – Further research would consist in probing the relationship between a customer and different types of RBs. It would be appropriate to assess this relationship by pinning down the influence of product categories and working in other psychological variables like attachment, trust or price sensitivity as well as behavioral data. Practical implications – These findings highlight the value of consumer RB satisfaction and loyalty, and suggest that managers develop marketing insights to enhance the loyalty‐building capacity of their own brands, by specifically addressing whether or not these are clearly identified as brands of a store. Originality/value – The idea of analyzing the influence of RBs on store loyalty using three classic dimensions of brand management (satisfaction, loyalty, and attitude) yet untapped in the specific case of RBs, and distinguishing between two specific types of RBs.