THE EFFECT OF BRAND ELEMENT CRITERIA AND BRAND IMAGE OF PRIVATE LABEL PRODUCTS ON STORE IMAGE AND ITS IMPLICATIONS ON CUSTOMER LOYALTY

This study aims to analyze the effects and aspects of store images and customers loyalty. Independent variable in this research is criteria of brand element and brand image, and dependent variables are store image and customer loyalty. Type of research was quantitative research and using questionnaires collected from 302 respondents who buy products with private label brand on their shopping baskets during Pandemic Covid-19 period. The result showed that brand element criteria had significant effect on store image and the same as brand image gave significant effect on store image, and store image significantly affect the customer loyalty. The conclusion derived from this study was to keep the private brand element criteria on the sight of customer side, maintain its good image because the brand effecting also the store image where the private label brand sold. Reinforcing store image periodically to maintain its customer loyalty should be done periodically and frequently.


INTRODUCTION
Private label products have their own uniqueness because they will greatly help department stores and supermarkets to differentiate products, and increase product sales potential by increasing the number of consumers who come to the store, and can reduce costs and build loyalty to department stores and supermarkets, however private products labels can increase costs along with self-financing promotion and the process of building a brand image which of course will incur costs. Meanwhile, from the consumer side, several issues that are quite important are the core parts of the product such as texture and product suitability, as well as other parts such as price, brand and packaging. (Mostafa & Elseidi, 2018) The sales contribution of private label products decreased drastically from January 2020 to September 2020 and sales never seemed to recover, even the gap or difference with the budget set by management was getting bigger, thus this is a very clear indicator that something is happening. needs to be studied and researched in more depth why this happens, especially after the management of department stores and supermarkets have made various efforts and efforts in order to introduce more private label products and increase sales such as changing the arrangement of product displays, increasing the number of product display racks, adding number of product variants, improving the quality of lighting and air conditioning, adding promotional media both inside department stores and supermarkets and outside, always including new releases of private label products in every marketing communication made by the marketing division, even created a database of consumers who buy private label products in the hope that these consumers will become regular customers who always consume private label products.
Another phenomenon that appears is the stagnant growth in the volume of private label products purchased by consumers, and even tends to decline, even though in the first 15 months, the volume growth of private label products purchased by consumers has grown very rapidly, but when entering 2020, the first semester The sales volume of private label products has begun to stagnate and tend to decline, and it indicated problems that need to be identified and resolved. (Valaskova et al., 2018).
The primary objectives of the research was to define the effect and contribution of a non price strategy implemented by modern retailers during pandemic Covid-19. The non price strategy represented by private brand products, brand criteria and brand element variables. The importance of the result gave new perspective and brought new findings of how private brand products leveraged the image of the retailer stores and generate new revenue stream.

LITERATURE REVIEW
According to the Trademark Law no. 15 of 2001 article 1 paragraph 1 mark is a "sign in the form of a picture, name, word, letter letter, numeric figure, color arrangement, or a combination of these elements which has distinguishing power and is used in trading activities of goods or services." has in common with the American Marketing Association version of the definition which emphasizes the role of the brand as identifier and differentiator (Gangwani et al., 2020). On the other hand, a brand is defined as a set of promises, associations, images and emotions created by a company to build loyalty with its consumers. (Mostafa & Elseidi, 2018).
The brand identifies the source or manufacturer of the product and allows consumers (individuals or organizations) to assign responsibilities to specific manufacturers or distributors (Xie et al., 2020). Strategic brand management includes the design and implementation of marketing activities and programs to build, measure and manage brands to maximize brand value (Confente & Kucharska, 2021). Private label products introduced by retailers with good quality will not only increase profits but will also gain strategic advantages, for example, products with private label brands will differentiate these retailers from other retailers. (Iglesias & Ind, 2020). Competition for the supply of different products is expected to increase the level of consumer loyalty to the relevant retailer (Akcura et al., 2019).
Private brand products or often referred to as store brand products are products that are branded by stores and owned by retailers, where these products generate higher profit margins, have control over display racks in supermarkets, giving retailers more power to be able to. negotiating and distributing, because of the exclusivity of these products can also increase the flow of consumers to the store and one thing is certain is that it will also increase the loyalty of store visitors in the future (Valaskova et al., 2018). Previous research has also stated that private label product brands will make it easier for consumers to shop, and can improve store image and loyalty due to the differentiation contained in the private label product brand itself. (Kumar & Kothari, 2015). The same thing was conveyed by Gangwani (2020) who analyzed that private label product brands had the potential to improve retailer performance, including how the private label product brands had managed to function as effective marketers in the retail industry. (Powell & Powell, 2020).
This effectiveness increases market share in general and loyalty and the level of profit for the retailer concerned. Private label product brands as part of the retailer's product category offer the basic concept of differentiation, have a positive impact on the store's image and certainly affect the level of customer loyalty. (Rekha, 2015). A strong association between the image of a modern retailer and its private label products is a fundamental requirement for a product differentiation strategy (Lin & Sum, 2020). Abril and Canovas (2016) state that brand image is a collection of brand associations that are in the minds of consumers regarding the brand itself. Brand association does not stand alone but a set of perceptions by consumers (Gil-Cordero & Cabrera-Sánchez, 2020). Store Image is the definition of the image in the minds of consumers regarding the retailer concerned, which will determine whether or not the consumer will come to the retailer (Kumar & Kothari, 2015).
Store image can also be interpreted as the way consumers perceive the retailer which is separated by functional factors about quality and also other psychological conditions. (Meek et al., 2019). Meanwhile, the store image dimensions are defined by Coldero and Sanchez (2020) as "four dimensions -facilities, store services, store activities and convenience. Apart from the convenience provided to consumers, private label products are also closely related to service quality, purchase intention and risk perception (Rizkalla & Suzanawaty, 2012).
Aspects of quality dimensions and brand image of private label products are positively associated with the dimensions of store image. The habit of interacting with customers is formed through frequent purchases and interactions over a period of time including verbal communication (Kernstock & Powell, 2018). Word of mouth is proven to have an important role as an instrument and channel for the level of customer satisfaction and loyalty (Erhan & Rizkalla, 2019). Without a track record of strong relationships and repeat purchases, the subject is not your customer, it is the buyer, customers grew over time. Customer loyalty appears to be a more reliable measure of predicting sales and financial growth (Vale, 2014). The hypothesis were design as Hypothesis 1: The brand element criteria is significantly effecting the store image; Hypothesis 2: The brand image is significantly effecting the store image; Hypothesis 3: The store image is significantly effecting the customer loyalty; Hypothesis 4: The brand element criteria is siignificantly effecting the customer loyalty; Hypothesis 5: The brand image is significantly effecting the customer loyalty.

METHODOLOGY
Respondents are consumers who come to buy private label products. In this study the authors used quantitative explanatory research that was explanatory or explanatory. The purpose of selecting the explanative method is because the researcher wants to explain the relationship between the variable brand element and brand image with store image and customer loyalty through hypothesis testing.
In this study the respondents in question were consumers who come physically to shop for private label products at department stores and supermarkets. Respondents consist of 67% female and 33% male. 12% age range between 20 to 30 years old. 72% age range between 31 to 40 years old. 10% age range between 41 to 50 years old and the rest 6% the age range between 51 to 60 years old. The questionnaire distribution took place in department stores and supermarkets in Jakarta from January 2020 to September 2020, totaling 302 people.
This study will use a sample size of 302 samples, twice as large as said by Malhotra (2011) who uses at least five times the number of indicators or questions in the questionnaire. Primary data is data obtained from original sources. Original source here is defined as the main source or the first source from which the data was obtained. The questionnaire is a data collection technique that is done by giving a set of questions or written statements to the respondent and then asked for the answer.
In this study, the researcher determined a Likert scale as a measurement scale. The author uses the Structural Equation Model (SEM) program, namely Lisrel version 8.80, and the method of analysis used in this study is the validity test, namely testing the validity of the study in the form of a score that has levels (ordinal), the formula used is to use a correlational coefficient.

RESULT AND DISCUSSION
The results of confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) can be said to be good if they meet the requirements of goodness of fit (GOF). The following is a CFA image of each latent variable, the table below shows the GOF results of each variable.  From table 1 above, it can be seen that CFA from Brand Image (BI) and Store Image (SI) has very good or perfect results. This can be seen from the RMSEA value and χ2 / df. CFA results from Variable Service Customer Loyalty (CL) are still acceptable even though the values of RMSEA and χ2 / df do not meet the requirements, because NFI, GFI, and CFI meet the GOF requirements, referring to the statement of Engel, Moosbrugger, and Muller (2003, p. 43) that a variable can still be accepted even though the RMSEA value is more than 0.1 as long as it meets the other 3 GOF requirements. Meanwhile, the Brand Element (BE) variable fulfills all the goodness of fit (GOG) indices, although not perfect, but the fit of the model on this variable is very good.

Structural Equation Model (SEM) Analysis
To analyze the writing entitled "the influence of brand element criteria and brand image of private label products on store image and its implications for customer loyalty", the authors used Structural Equation Modeling (SEM) program, namely Lisrel version 8.80. Following are the results of SEM research on 302 respondents.
Structural Model Analysis. The following is a table showing the standardized loading factor and measurement errors for a structural model.  Figure 5 shows the value of the t-count in each dimension of the variables, it can be seen that the measurement model has good validity. This is based on the criteria of good validity, where the t value of the factor load is ≥ t table value (t count ≥ 1,968). So it can be concluded that the indicators in the measurement model can measure the construct (Criteria for Brand Element, Brand Image, Store Image and Customer Loyalty) quite well. After seeing that each indicator on the latent variable has good validity, then using the standardized loading factor value in Figure 6 to see the direct effect of the indicator on each of the variables.
It can be seen that in the Brand Element Criteria variable, the "Meaningful" and "Protectable" indicators have the same weight value, namely the highest, meaning that the dominant factor that occurs in the Brand Element Criteria variable is the Meaningful and Protectable indicators, where the weight of these indicators is-0.73 or 53.29% respectively and the rest is explained by other variables (measurement error).
Furthermore, in the Brand Image variable, the "Strength of Brand Association" indicator has the highest weight value, meaning that the dominant factor that occurs in the Brand Image Criteria variable is the Strength of Brand Association indicator, where the weight of the indicator is 0.91 or 82. 21% and the rest is explained by other variables (measurement error).
Then in the Store Image variable, the "Facilities" indicator has the highest weight value, meaning that the dominant factor that occurs in the Store Image variable is the Facilities indicator, where the weight of the indicator is 0.78 or 82.21% and the rest is explained by variables other (measurement error). On the Customer Loyalty variable, the "Repurchase" indicator has the highest weight value, meaning that the dominant factor that occurs in the Customer Loyalty variable is the Repurchase indicator, where the weight of the indicator is 0.83 or 68.89% and the rest is explained by the variable other (measurement error). After it is known that each indicator has excellent validity, the following shows the construct reliability (CR) value for each construct in the measurement model Based on the value of standardized loading factors and measurement errors as well as a formula for calculating Construct Reliability. It can be seen from the table above that the Construct Reliability value for each latent variable exceeds the threshold, namely 0.70. This indicates that the level of reliability in each construct is quite high, so it can be said that the indicators in each construct are consistent enough to measure the construct.

Overall Model Analysis
After previously known that the proposed model is unique, then by using the proposed model along with the data that has been obtained, with the help of the SIMPLIS output on LISREL, then it can be seen how to test the suitability of the proposed overall model using two model fit test criteria, namely model fit test, inferential and descriptive fit test model.

Inferentially Fitness Test Of The Model
In this inferential model suitability test, the Normal Theory Chi-Square test is used, which is as follows: Hypothesis :

Descriptive Model Fitness Test
The following shows the LISREL output results for descriptive evaluation of the suitability of the overall model: Based on the test results with the descriptive statistics above, it can be seen, the results prove that this model is very good. This is indicated by the model suitability index values in general which are said to be fit with the data. Thus, it can be concluded that the overall fit of the model is good.

Structural Model Analysis
From the structural model, it can be seen how the influence between latent variables, in this case, is the effect of brand element criteria and private label product brand image on store image and its implications for customer loyalty. Based on the LISREL output results in the appendix, the following is a table that shows the estimation results of the Standardized parameters (weight values) of the structural model for the model. Hypothesis testing steps for testing the meaning of brand element criteria and private label product brand image to store image and customer loyalty are as follows: Hypothesis First Test: H0: There's no effect of Criteria Brand Element (ξ1) to Store Image (η1), Ha: There's effect of Criteria Brand Element (ξ1) to Store Image (η1), Criteria Test: Reject hypothesis nol if t value ≥ t tabel Accept hypothesis nol if t value < t tabel t (0,05;300) =1,968

Test results
Based on the test output shown, it is found that the value of t count = 5. 37 ≥ t table = 1.968, then H0 is rejected. This means that with a significance level of 5% it can be concluded that the effect of the Brand Element (ξ1) Criteria on Store Image (η1), the magnitude of the positive influence relationship between the Brand Element Criteria on the Store Image is 0.5. Or it can be said that the positive influence of the Brand Element Criteria is 25.00% on Store Image on Private Label products, while the remaining 75.00% is explained by other variables.

Hypothesis Second Test: H0:
There's no effect of Brand Image (ξ2) to Store Image (η1), Ha: There's effect of Brand Image (ξ2) to Store Image (η1), From Table 4 it can be concluded that the highest correlation value is found in the dimension of the Brand Element Criteria "Likeable" (preferred) which has a significant correlation with the Store Image "facilities" variable dimension with a value of 0.448, meaning that the private label product brand is liked by customers and according to the location. Where the private label product brand is sold in accordance with the completeness of shop facilities deemed adequate by the buyer, as well as other variable dimensions which have a high enough value, namely 0.406, namely the "transferable" dimension to the "facilities" dimension which means that the private product brand labels can be used in different product categories so that prospective buyers can easily find these products which are also closely related to the completeness of the shop where the private label product brand is sold. 1) Correlation of the Brand Image variable dimensions with the Store Image variable dimensions. The Brand Image variable is divided into 3 dimensions where the results of the correlation test with the Store Image are shown in the following Table 5 below:  Table 5 explains the significant correlation between the dimensions of the Brand Image and Store Image variables and it can be seen that the "Strength of Brand Association" dimension has a significant correlation with the Store Image variable dimension, namely "convenience" with the number 0.401, which can be interpreted as that the strength of the private label product brand association is closely related to the comfort level of a shop where the private label product brand is sold. Another dimension of the Brand Image variable which is also strongly correlated with the Store Image dimension variable is the dimension of "uniqueness of brand association" with the dimension of "convenience" which has a number of 0.381, which means that private label product brands can provide better product differentiation power when compared to brands. Other products and also relates to the convenience level of the shop where the private label product brand is sold.  Table 6 above, it can be concluded that the Brand Element variable dimension "protectable" has a significant correlation with the Customer Loyalty variable dimension, namely "repurchase" with a value of 0.467, meaning that customers buy back private label product brands on the grounds that the private label product brand provides security. With respect to private label product brands, legality and quality aspects of the product can be accounted for, such as license ownership from the Food and Drug Supervisory Agency, expiration time, clear producers, product registration numbers from relevant ministries and various other legal aspects so that repurchasing or repeated purchases will be carried out by customer.
2) The correlation of the dimensions of the Brand Image variable with the dimension variable of Customer Loyalty.
The Brand Image variable is divided into 3 dimensions where the results of the correlation test with Customer Loyalty are shown in the following table:  Table 7. It can be explained that the dimension of the Brand Image variable, namely "strength of brand association" (strength of brand association) has a high correlation with the dimension of the Customer Loyalty variable, namely "repurchase" with a correlation number of 0.485, which means that brand repurchase of private label products is closely related and is strongly associated with the strength of a brand association in the minds of prospective buyers. In other words, the private label product brand association can be accepted by customers so that they are willing to repurchase the product under the private label brand. Correlation is significant at the 0.01 level (2-tailed). **.

3) Correlation of
dimensions. The Store Image variable which is divided into 4 (four) dimensions has a correlation with the dimensions in the Customer Loyalty variable. The result showed that the correlation of the Store Image variable dimension, namely "Convenience", has a significant correlation with the dimension of the Customer Loyalty variable, namely "Believing" with a number reaching 0.469. Apart from being significantly correlated with the dimension of "Believing", the dimension of "Convenience" is also correlated with another dimension of the Customer Loyalty variable, namely "Repurchase" with the number 0.439. These results indicate that the level of customer trust in private label product brands is inseparable and is closely related to the convenience and atmosphere of shopping in the store created by the store / outlet where the private label product brand is sold. Likewise, repeat purchases made by customers are closely related or closely related to the comfort level and atmosphere in which the private label product brand is sold. The result of the data supported hypotheses 1 which described the Brand Element criteria have a significant effect on Store Image. The variables "meaningful" and "protectable" have a high weight value meaning that these aspects are the dominant indicators of the Brand Element variable. The data were also supported the hypothesis 2 that Brand Image has an influence on Store Image. The indicator "Strength of Brand Association" is the dominant indicator in the Brand Image variable. Brand Element criteria directly affect Customer Loyalty. The indicators result showed that the hypothesis 3 were supported by the data, describing that store image was significantly effecting the customer loyalty.
The result as shown by Table 7 indicated the data supported hypothesis 4 which stated that brand element criteria were significantly effecting customer loyalty. Selection of brand criteria must consider aspects that are directly related to indicators or aspects of customer loyalty. Table 3.8 and Table 7 showed that the data supported the Brand Image directly affects Customer Loyalty.
Customers are very concerned with the benefits and their association with the image of a brand. Store Image affects Customer Loyalty. The facilities indicator in the Store Image is the dominant indicator, while "repurchase" is the dominant indicator in Customer Loyalty. In addition to these conclusions, it can also be concluded that the dimensions in each of the different variables have a significant correlation, namely that the private label product brand is favored or favored by customers because it is sold in stores or outlets that have sufficient facilities, in addition to it is also that the private label product brand can be used also in different product categories.

CONCLUSION AND RECOMMENDATION
The strength of private label product brand association is closely related to the comfort level of the outlets or stores where the brand is sold. Repeated purchases made by customers are related to the feeling of security provided by the private label brand in relation to product legality assurance, product quality levels and other safety aspects that make customers feel safe to consume products with the private label brand. Repeat purchases made by customers are closely related to the strength of customer associations regarding the private label product brand. Repeat purchases made by customers are also closely related to the level of convenience of customers when shopping and buying products with private label brands in stores or outlets. This research, of course, does not stop at the present stage, but it would be even better if it could be continued with further research that is more in-depth and in accordance with current developments and trends in the retail industry. Therefore, some suggestions that the author can convey for further research are to expand the population taken, because the current population taken is customers who buy private label products, thus it can be seen and observed whether the population of other retailers knows the existence of private label product brands. which is currently on sale. Using a choice of other variables such as purchasing decisions or buying interest.