Collaboration: Transforming Strategic Intents into Private Label Performance

The private label research has been inspired by many fields including consumer science and marketing strategies. However, no study has analyzed the relationship between private labels introduction and retailer performance from a buyer-supplier relationship perspective. More specifically, this research aims to examine the collaboration between retailer and manufacturer in introducing new products in the context of the unique private label supply chain. Through an empirical analysis of 211 private label adoption cases in Korean grocery retailing industry, I examined the hypothesized relationships among retailers’ different strategic intents of introducing private labels, collaborations with manufacturers, and ensuing performance. Using structural equation modeling, I found that private label introduction motivations play a significant role on the retailermanufacturer collaboration. I also found that it fully mediates private label introduction motivations and retailer’s private label performance. The results suggest that retailers should have higher level of retailer-manufacturer collaboration with their suppliers when they introduce new private labels to promote store loyalty. This research also attempts to fill the theoretical gap between strategy and performance by adopting a strategic intent perspective. Other implications and future research directions are also offered.