Modeling the brand extensions' influence on brand image

Brand-extension strategies enhance success chances of new products, even though they expose brand image to dilution risks. The present work analyzes how brand-extension evaluation can affect the current brand image and proposes a theoretical model formed by five main factors related to brand associations, extension congruency and extension attitude. The model estimation includes structural equation analysis using data from 699 surveys developed under market conditions. The results verify that extension attitude influences brand image, whereas initial brand associations and perceived fit between the new product and either the remaining products (category fit) or the brand image (image fit) are able to strengthen consumer attitude. The study also explains the role of consumer innovativeness as a moderating factor, suggesting that the characteristics of consumer personality could be more important than expected.     

The role of perceived value in vertical brand extensions of luxury and premium brands

Abstract

This study examines the role of perceived value in the relationship between brand attitude, perceived fit, extension attitude and consumers’ purchase intention of downscale vertical extensions of luxury and premium brands in two product categories: cars and shoes. Results from 236 individuals with different income levels show that extension attitude is positively related to purchase intention both directly and indirectly, via the perceived value of the extension; the latter is more strongly correlated than extension attitude to consumers’ purchase intention. Brand attitude is also positively associated with perceived value. Overall, perceived value partially mediates the relationships of brand attitude and of extension attitude with purchase intention. The product category affects the strength of some of the relationships in the model, including the role of fit.     

Attitudes toward the extension and parent brand in response to extension advertising

This paper investigates how ads for extensions can trigger different reactions with respect to consumers' attitudes towards new line and brand extensions of familiar brands. Using a structural equation model, the authors research the influence of attitude towards the ad (Aad), parent brand quality, and perceived fit on attitude toward the extension (Aext), and resulting feedback effects on attitude toward the parent brand (Apb) with a sample of 509 Belgians. Results are compared between two types of advertising strategies (informational vs. positive emotional). The findings indicate that informational appeals, in comparison to emotional appeals, reduce the effects of parent brand quality and fit, but Aad is all the more important. In terms of feedback effects to the parent brand, Aext transfers more easily to Apb with an informational appeal than with a positive emotional appeal. On the other hand, Aad directly influences Apb for positive emotional appeals, but not informational appeals.     

消费者品牌延伸评价中的"拥有者效应"

A two levels of product similarity times two levels of brand image consistency times three levels of ownerships factorial experiment was designed to explore the ownership effects when consumers evaluate brand extensions and judge parent brand after receiving brand extension information. Evidence shows that ownership effects do exist in both extension and parent brand evaluations. Brand image consistency is the most influential factor for parent brand owners while product similarity is more important factor for non-users in attitude formation towards the extension. The owners of competitive brands favor low image consistency extension more than high image consistency extension. Furthermore, there is an interaction effect between brand image consistency and product similarity for brand owners, whereas this effect is non-existent for non-owners and non-users. This again shows that brand owners care much more about brand image consistency than other consumer groups do. In evaluating a parent brand, owners and non-owners differ. The authors draw the conclusion that consumers’ brand extension evaluation is more like a “benefit oriented” process rather than a “pure affect transfer” process.     

Why negative brand extension evaluations do not always negatively affect the brand: The role of central and peripheral brand associations

This research introduces the concept of brand association centrality and distinguishes central brand associations (CBAs) and peripheral brand associations (PBAs). Study 1 shows that the consistency with CBAs and PBAs influences perceived brand extension fit. However, the brand extension consistency with CBAs positively affects consumer–brand extension evaluations, while the brand extension consistency with PBAs does not have a significant effect. Study 2 demonstrates the mediating role of perceived fit between brand extension consistency with CBAs and brand extension evaluations. The study shows that the more inconsistent the product extension is with CBAs, the more the brand's image is altered and the faster brand evaluations deteriorate. In contrast, the brand extension inconsistency with PBAs does not affect brand evaluations.     

Does poor fit always lead to negative evaluations? Extension advertising and perceived brand quality

This article investigates the moderating roles of advertising strategy (relational vs. elaborational) and perceived parent brand quality on the influence that parent brand–extension fit exerts on consumer evaluations of both extensions and the parent brand. Two studies manipulate fit in terms of either brand concept consistency or product feature similarity. Lower fit results in negative consumer responses, yet an elaborational advertising strategy mitigates the negative effects of lower fit on extension evaluations. This mitigating effect is stronger for high quality than for average quality brands. The results also indicate extension feedback effects for the parent brand, suggesting that elaborational advertising strategies may reduce the impact of fit on parent brand feedback effects. This latter link is not moderated by parent brand quality.     

The influence of green brand innovativeness and value perception on brand loyalty: the moderating role of green knowledge

Building on arguments relating to the differences between innovation and innovativeness and their influences on brand loyalty, this study investigates how green brand innovativeness and value perception influence green brand loyalty. In addition, the influences of a mediating variable green perceived value (GPV) and a moderating variable (consumer green knowledge) on the development process of green brand loyalty are examined. Data were collected using an online survey administered to a consumer panel in China, and structural equation modelling (SEM) was used to test the conceptual model with a sample of 826 Chinese respondents. The results demonstrate that green brand innovativeness was directly associated with brand loyalty and indirectly influenced brand loyalty via GPV. Moreover, green knowledge significantly moderated the relationship between green brand innovativeness and GPV. Therefore, to promote green brand loyalty, organizations must allocate resources into enhancing consumers’ perceptions of green brand innovativeness and green value, and improving their environmental knowledge.     

Functional brand qualities and perceived value: The mediating role of brand experience and brand personality

Brand experience and brand personality have become two important theoretical constructs in the branding literature. However, research on the antecedents of these two constructs has been focused on intangible brand characteristics and qualities, underestimating the role of functional features. This study aims to overcome this gap by postulating that two key functional brand qualities, quality and innovativeness, help shape brand experience and personality, which, we ultimately predict, contribute to perceived value. Investments in quality and innovation have grown substantially, but how they materialize in benefits for customers and firms remains unclear. Accordingly, this study provides insights into how firms can engender the characteristics of their offer to build brands that are perceived by consumers as generating a valued brand experience and personality. The results from two samples provide broad support to the proposed model. Both brand quality and innovativeness contribute to brand experience and personality. Moreover, we observe that both brand experience and personality relate to perceived value. Finally, we also determined that brand personality and experience partially mediate the relationship between brand innovativeness and quality and perceived value. Hence, these results provide relevant implications for both theory and the practice of brand management.     

Affective cues and brand‐extension evaluation: Exploring the influence of attitude toward the parent brand and attitude toward the extension ad

This research investigates the influence of two affective cues, namely, attitude toward the parent brand and attitude toward the extension ad, on brand‐extension evaluation. Results show that as perceived congruity between the extension and the parent brand decreases, the influence of attitude toward the parent brand on brand‐extension evaluation decreases, but the influence of attitude toward the extension ad increases. The impact of the two affective cues also appears to be moderated by an individual's need for cognition. © 2006 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.     

The moderating roles of perceived complementarity and substitutability on the perceived manufacturing difficulty–extension attitude relationship

The extant brand extension literature shows a curvilinear relationship between consumers' perceived difficulty of manufacturing the brand extension and their attitude towards the extension. This paper advances this research area by investigating the moderating roles of consumption-fit dimensions. Specifically, this research examines how the perceptions of the product extension's complementarity and substitutability affect the relationship between perceived difficulty of manufacturing the extension and extension attitude. To test these relationships, the study uses a four-country sample comprising of both graduate and undergraduate students. Study results demonstrate that perceived complementarity helps easy-to-make extensions while hurting difficult-to-make extensions, but perceived substitutability hurts extension attitude. These findings advance theory and offer managerial implications. Product and brand managers need to consider the joint effects of consumption fit and extension difficulty while using brand extension strategies.     

Modeling the Effects of Green Advertising on Brand Image: Investigating the Moderating Effects of Product Involvement Using Structural Equation

ABSTRACT

?This experimental study examined consumers’ response to green advertising for high- and low-involvement products by measuring its effect on consumers’ intention to purchase such brands. The present study enhances our understanding of the moderating role of product involvement and extends the structural equation tests of the four causal models. A dataset of 169 respondents is used to examine the role of brand image and brand attitude in the context of green advertisements. Consistent with earlier findings, the suggested model provides a good fit of the data and results indicate that positive attitude toward green advertisements, brand image, and attitude toward the brand enhances the chances of consumers’ purchase intention of such brands. The study also verifies that product involvement moderates the positive relationship between attitude toward green advertisements and brand image such that at higher levels of product involvement, attitude toward green advertisements has a stronger effect on brand image.     

The impact of brand equity on brand preference and purchase intentions in the service industries

The antecedents of brand equity are considered to be brand attitude and brand image, and the consequences of brand equity are considered to be brand preference and purchase intentions. This study concentrates on service brands, selecting 18 from 3 service categories. A structural equation model is presented. Not only does it show a good fit with the research constructs but also the relationships between brand image and brand equity, and brand attitude and brand equity. The impact of brand equity on customer preference and purchase intentions is confirmed as well, which tends to validate the proposed research framework.     

Influence of consumer attitude toward online brand community on revisit intention and brand trust

This study proposes to illustrate the relationships between perceived benefits in using online brand communities, attitudes, revisit intention, and brand trust, and it also assesses the moderating role of two types of online brand communities: marketer- and consumer-created communities. The research model is tested by regression analysis using a random sample of 242 respondents. The study finds that social and informational benefits have positive impacts on attitude, which, in turn, significantly influence revisit intention and brand trust. The moderating effect of the type of online community was significant in predicting the relationship between attitude and brand trust but not between attitude and revisit intention. The study concludes the importance of managing online brand communities through managerial implications.     

Extending symbolic brands using their personality: Examining antecedents and implications towards brand image fit and brand dilution

This research provides a framework to achieve two objectives. First, it helps us to understand the implications of congruency of information, motivation, and perceived prestige orientation as antecedents to brand personality fit. Second, it examines the mediating role of brand image fit between brand personality fit and dilution of brand affect. The above is explained by using elaboration theory, conceptual coherence theory, and goal‐derived categorization theory. The results of the implication of elaboration theory on brand personality fit were mixed. While congruency of personality dimensions between parent and extension brands has bearings towards brand personality fit, the motivation of processing information did not. In contrast to brand image fit, this study showed that the prestige orientation of a brand did not influence brand personality fit. The subsequent mediation analysis demonstrated that brand personality fit is positively related to brand image fit, but neither of these two variables has any influence on dilution of brand affect. © 2007 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.     

The role of brand strength,type, image and product-category fit in retail brand collaborations

Retailer brand collaborations are an underexploited way for retailers to expand product lines and target new segments relatively quickly and cheaply, yet little work has explored the area and the influence of important factors in the image inheritance process remains unknown. Using data from two experiments involving 240 subjects, we examine the role of brand type, brand strength and the fit between parent and brand collaboration product categories to show that a new retail product's image inherits more characteristics from a symbolic parent brand (even when the brand is weak) and when there are higher degrees of parent retailer-image fit. However, fit between the new retail collaboration's product category and that of the parent brands is only important for functional brands. The results help retailers decide which partner to choose to maximize image inheritance.     

The short- and long-term impact of brand placement in an advertiser-funded TV program on viewers' attitudes toward the sponsor brand and its main competitor

The present research investigates how viewers' liking of an advertiser-funded television program (AFP) influences viewers' attitude toward the brand that sponsors the program and its main competitor through a field study at two points in time (N_wave1 = 529 and N_wave2 = 256). An AFP is a television program which is fully sponsored by and built around a sponsoring brand. We test how the perceived program-sponsor brand fit moderates the effect of program liking one week and one month after the program finale. Program liking positively impacts brand attitude for the sponsor, and this effect becomes weaker over time. Program-sponsor brand fit reinforces the positive effect of program liking on brand attitude, especially in the longer term. In the longer term, program liking of an AFP also positively impacts viewers' attitude toward the main competitor of the sponsor.     

Category characteristics' effects on brand extension attitudes: A research note

Prior studies on attitudes towards brand extensions focus mainly on the effects of the perceived fit between the brand extension and the extension category. This exploratory paper contributes by describing two studies of how the following four extension category characteristics affect consumers' attitudes towards brand extensions: (1) the awareness set size; (2) the perceived similarity among existing brands; (3) the perceived category familiarity; and (4) overall category attitudes. Results from two studies suggest that consumers evaluate brand extensions more favorably when the awareness set size is small or when their attitude towards the extension category is favorable. Consequently, brand managers must analyze the extension category carefully when developing brand extensions.     

Image feedback effects of brand extensions: Evidence from a longitudinal field study

This paper examines the issue of image feedback effects and potential drivers of these effects by analyzing real-world extensions that have been introduced successfully in the market, using a longitudinal field study. Within the context of typical FMCG extensions, the authors find strong evidence that even for successful extensions, negative image feedback effects can occur, particularly when the perceived quality of the extension fails to meet the quality level of the parent brand. Strong brands tend to be more vulnerable to negative image feedback effects because consumers have a higher reference level for their extensions than for those of weaker brands. The likelihood of negative feedback effects decreases as the level of perceived fit and consumers’ perceptions of the general extendibility of the parent brand increases. But managers cannot, at least in the short run, mitigate negative image feedback effects through increased advertising support. Finally, the findings demonstrate that the feedback effects of a new extension product on parent brand image diminish over time.

Influence of Corporate Image on Brand Extensions: A Model Applied to the Service Sector

The paper presented here provides a new perspective in the study of service brand extensions, which has become a popular strategy for launching new services. Specifically, the paper proposes and estimates a model that shows how potential consumers evaluate service extensions. The findings show that the corporate image affects both the perceived service quality and the perceived fit between the new service and the parent brand, which in turn affects attitudes towards the extension. In consequence, the service extension is more likely to be successful when the corporate image is reinforced by effective marketing communications. The perception of service quality will be better and consumers will think that the company is more able to offer the new services.     

Product difficulty incongruity and consumer evaluations of brand extensions

Ever since the appearance of Aaker and Keller's (1990) seminal article, the brand extension research stream has intensively investigated factors that impact consumer evaluations of brand extensions. However, the main effect of product difficulty and the interactions between the parent brand quality and fit variables have not been consistent across studies. We conjecture that this inconclusiveness of findings is due to an equivocal conceptualization and operationalization of the key concepts – product difficulty and product difficulty incongruity. The existing studies mainly focus on product difficulty, i.e., the perceived difficulty level of designing and making the extension, whereas the latter refers to the difference between consumers’ perceptions of the difficulty of designing and making the parent product and the difficulty in designing and making the extension product. We specifically propose that product difficulty incongruity will negatively impact consumer evaluation of brand extensions, and this negative effect is stronger for high parent brand quality and consumers with high levels of need for cognition. The findings from two empirical studies well support our predictions.