Did you read the label? : an exploratory study on grocery shoppers’ brand loyalty and purchase intentions

Sammanfattning: Due to the rise of the internet, the mislabelling of food products has turned into a well-known phenomenon. There is an unsolved paradox concerning how the act of mislabelling may influence brand loyal grocery shoppers’ loyalty and purchase intentions towards their favourite food brands. To investigate the area of mislabelling and brand loyalty, four in-depth semi-structured interviews were conducted in a qualitative setting. The participants were handpicked based on a purposive and convenience sampling method, where individuals with experience in the catering industry were requested. The findings suggest that the outcome of mislabelling is highly individual as it may be perceived differently depending on the shoppers’ level of involvement as well as the strength of the initial brand loyalty. The present study contributes new theoretical insights concerning the concepts of branding and brand loyalty, suggesting that trust is an essential element. Also, this study contributes to practical implications that may limit the loss of consumer trust from a firm’s perspective. For future research, this study suggests that a cultural or gender-centric investigation concerning mislabelling and brand loyal grocery shoppers would be appropriate.