Quality assurance labels as drivers of customer loyalty in the case of traditional food products

This paper examines the role of quality assurance labels as drivers of customer loyalty in the case of traditional food products. More specifically, it investigates whether quality assurance labels, such as the Designation of origin labels (DOLs), perform as better drivers of loyalty in comparison to other brand-related attributes, such as price and brand type, and if brands carrying a DOL exhibit higher loyalty levels in comparison to brands that do not carry any DOL label. Scanner data were collected from a panel of 789 French customers recording purchases over a year within a traditional food product category. The polarisation index phi (phi) was used as a measure of loyalty. The findings show that in comparison with other extrinsic product attributes, DOLs constitute less important drivers of loyalty. However, brands carrying a DOL in comparison to brands that do not carry any DOL label exhibit higher levels of loyalty. The findings provide useful directions for the implementation of marketing strategies and management of product portfolios of product categories in which the marketing mix is often built on product attributes other than the brand name. (C) 2012 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.