Understanding consumer loyalty to private labels: a structural equation modelling study in food retail

Purpose To examine how human-centric retail variables, shopping experience, perceived risk and private-label image, shape consumer loyalty to store brands and to the food retailer that owns them. Design/methodology/approach A survey of 300 Portuguese hypermarket shoppers, collected during the COVID-19 up-heaval, was analysed with structural equation modelling to test nine hypotheses linking experiential, perceptual and contextual constructs. Findings An engaging shopping experience and a credible private-label image jointly lower per-ceived risk and foster favourable attitudes. These attitudes, in turn, drive purchase inten-tion, raise store satisfaction and build lasting loyalty. Pandemic-related uncertainty ampli-fied these human-centric effects. Originality/value This study integrates human-experience and contextual variables into a single loyalty model, demonstrating how human-centric innovation converts private-label perceptions into durable retailer loyalty.