New consumer polling data shows that an overwhelming majority of U.S. supermarket shoppers will continue purchasing store brand products after the recession is over.

A poll conducted this month by GfK Custom Research North America for the Private Label Manufacturers Association reports that 91% of shoppers say they will keep buying store brand products after the recession ends. Conversely, only 8% of the consumer polled said they will stop buying these products.

The quality of store brand products is a big factor in convincing shoppers to keep buying them. The GfK poll found that 9 of every 10 shoppers agree that the store brand products they buy are just as good as, or better than, national brand products.

This positive experience makes shoppers eager for an even greater assortment of store brand products from which to choose. Nearly half of consumers polled said they wanted their supermarket to carry a greater assortment of private label products.

GfK found that the recession is still having a big impact on shoppers:

- More than half (54%) of them say the recession is an important factor in their decision-making and 32% say it is very important.
Well into the recession, shoppers are still switching to store brands.

- The poll found that 35% of shoppers are trying store brand products in categories where they had previously only purchased national brand items.

- More than 3 of every 10 shoppers say they are now buying more store brand products than they were a year ago.

These are some of the results included in PLMA's ongoing study, "Store Brands and The Recession," based on GfK's nationwide poll of nearly 800 main household grocery shoppers.

This latest research in the study was co-sponsored by Marketing Management Inc., Ft. Worth, Texas, a sales and marketing company that specializes in store brands.