Consumer purchasing habits are changing in today’s economy. One such shift is that consumers are moving away from national brands to private label brands. It appears that consumers will stay loyal to store brands even when the economy improves. Private Label Manufacturers Association (PLMA) and GfK Custom Research North America have been conducting ongoing research to find that "91% of respondents will keep buying store brand products after the recession ends, while only 8% say they will stop buying these products once the economy turns around." This is due to consumer perception that private label brands are just as good, or even better than, national brand products.

Not only are private label brands proving that they can get the repeat buy from customers, but they are increasingly attracting new buyers. The recession is an important purchasing decision factor for 54% of the study’s respondents, and a very important factor for 35% of respondents. This has increased the amount of purchasers switching to store brand products. In 1999, 18% of food and beverage purchases were store brands. This has increased to 24% in 2008, with 97% of all US households consuming private label foods and beverages on a regular basis.

A drop in sales for national brands is predicted (MediaBuyerPlanner reported that Procter & Gamble decreased in global sales volume by 5% for its Q3 2009) with private label brands to benefit.