Private Label Products and Consumer Income: Is There a Curvilinear Relationship?

Supermarket scanner data are analyzed for five product categories across three income groups to test the premise of a curvilinear relationship between income and private labels (PLs). The three income groups are lower-, moderate-, and high-income consumers and the premise tested is that moderate-income consumers are far more inclined to purchase PLs than lower- and higher- income consumers. The five product categories selected for this study areL butter and margarine; frozen potatoes; ice cream; jams, jelly and peanut butter; and yogurt. Statistical results derived for these product categories offer no support for a curvilinear relationship between income and PLs. Lower-income consumers are shown to be more prone to purchase PLs than moderate- and higher-icnome consumers across all product groups