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Establishing and/or developing a portfolio of private label brands (PLBs) is a strategic imperative for most retail chains. The purpose of this paper is to construct, and validate, a holistic conceptual model to investigate the effect of perceived product quality, relative price and risk on perceived product value and, ultimately, willingness to buy these brands. In addition to this, the study seeks to investigate the potential role of store image as an antecedent within the model.

A survey of middle to upper income shoppers was administered in order to determine the magnitude of the above-mentioned effects. The study focused on the market segment of private label breakfast cereal consumers within South Africa.

All relationships in the model were found to be significant at the 5 per cent level, except for store image on perceived risk. The strongest relationship, by some margin, was that between perceived value and willingness to buy PLBs.

The myth that a powerful store image can necessarily mitigate high levels of consumer risk was dispelled. In general, the results may be used to glean further insight into the consumer’s approach to buying PLBs and shape brand managers’ actions in building these brands.

This study draws on the collective works of Beneke et al. (2013), Snoj et al. (2004) and Sweeney et al. (1999) in exploring this issue. However, the research advances the discussion by considering a low-involvement product category and the inclusion of an additional antecedent – store image.