Abstract
This paper investigates how advertisements for extensions contribute to consumers’ attitudes towards new line and brand extensions of highly familiar brands. We investigate the relative importance of attitude toward the advertisement (Aad), parent brand quality, and fit between the extension and the parent brand for extension evaluations with a sample of 754 Belgians. Hierarchical regressions showed that Aad is the major influencer of extension evaluation. The importance of Aad, quality, and fit on extension evaluation is moderated by extension type (line or brand extension), advertising strategy (informational, positive emotional, negative emotional), and product involvement (low or high involvement). Quality transfer from the parent brand was more outspoken for line than for brand extensions; Aad was relatively more important for low product involvement and fit for high involvement conditions. Informational appeals, compared to emotional appeals, reduced the effects of parent brand quality and fit, but Aad was all the more important.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Aaker, D. A., & Keller, K. L. (1990). Consumer evaluations of brand extensions. Journal of Marketing, 54(1), 27–41.
Ahluwalia, R., & Gürhan-Canli, Z. (2000). The effects of extensions on the family brand name: an accessibility-diagnosticity perspective. Journal of Consumer Research, 27(3), 371–381.
Bottomley, P. A., & Holden, S. J. S. (2001). Do we really know how consumers evaluate brand extensions? Empirical generalizations based on secondary analysis of eight studies. Journal of Marketing Research, 38(4), 494–500.
Coulter, K. S. (2005). An examination of qualitative vs quantitative elaboration likelihood effects. Psychology & Marketing, 22(1), 31–49.
Czellar, S. (2003). Consumer attitude toward brand extensions: an integrative model and research propositions. International Journal of Research in Marketing, 20(1), 97–115.
Davis, S., & Halligan, C. (2002). Extending your brand by optimizing your customer relationship. Journal of Consumer Marketing, 19(1), 7–11.
De Pelsmacker, P., Geuens, M., & Van den Bergh, J. (2007). Marketing communications. London: Pitman.
Drolet, A., Williams, P., & Lau-Gesk, L. (2007). Age-related differences in responses to affective vs rational ads for hedonic vs utilitarian products. Marketing Letters, 18(4), 211–221.
Fiske, S. T., & Pavelchak, M. A. (1986). Category-based versus piecemeal-based affective responses: Developments in schema-triggered affect. In R. M. Sorrentino & E. T. Higgins (Eds.), The handbook of motivation and cognition, volume 1: Foundations of social behavior (pp. 167–203). New York: Guilford.
Greifeneder, R., Bless, H., & Kuschmann, T. (2007). Extending the brand image on new products: the facilitative effect of happy mood states. Journal of Consumer Behaviour, 6, 19–31.
Grime, I., Diamantopoulos, A., & Smith, G. (2002). Consumer evaluations of extensions and their effects on the core brand: key issues and research propositions. European Journal of Marketing, 36(11/12), 1415–1438.
Gürhan-Canli, Z., & Maheswaran, D. (1998). The effects of extensions on brand name dilution and enhancement. Journal of Marketing Research, 35(4), 464–473.
Hansen, F. (2005). Distinguishing between feelings and emotions in understanding communication effects. Journal of Business Research, 58(10), 1426–1436.
Janssens, W., Wijnen, K., De Pelsmacker, P., & Van Kenhove, P. (2008). Marketing research with SPSS. London, UK: Prentice Hall.
Klink, R. R., & Smith, D. C. (2001). Threats to the external validity of brand extension research. Journal of Marketing Research, 38(3), 326–335.
Lai, M. (2006). The impacts of the brand strategies of new products on consumers’ behaviors. Paper presented at the 5th International Conference on Research in Advertising, Bath, UK.
Lye, A., Venkateswarlu, P., & Barrett, J. (2001). Brand extensions: prestige brand effects. Australasian Marketing Journal, 9(2), 53–65.
Martínez, E., Montaner, T., & Pina, J. M. (2008). Brand extension feedback: the role of advertising. Journal of Business Research, doi:10.1016/j.jbusres.2008.05.009.
McCarthy, M. S., Heath, T. B., & Milberg, S. J. (2001). New brands versus brand extensions, attitudes versus choice: experimental evidence for theory and practice. Marketing Letters, 12(1), 75–90.
Nan, X. L. (2006). Affective cues and brand-extension evaluation: exploring the influence of attitude toward the parent brand and attitude toward the extension ad. Psychology & Marketing, 23(7), 597–616.
Nkwocha, I., Bao, Y., Johnson, W. C., & Brotspies, H. V. (2005). Product fit and consumer attitude toward brand extensions: the moderating role of product involvement. Journal of Marketing Theory & Practice, 13(3), 49–61.
Park, J.-W., & Kim, K.-H. (2001). Role of consumer relationships with a brand in brand extensions: some exploratory findings. Advances in Consumer Research, 28(1), 179–185.
Patro, S. K., & Jaiswal, A. K. (2003). Consumer evaluations of brand extensions: evidence from India. Journal of the Academy of Business and Economics, 1, 1–13.
Petty, R. E., Cacioppo, J. T., Strathman, A. J., & Priester, J. R. (2005). To think or not to think? Exploring two routes to persuasion. In T. C. Brock & M. C. Green (Eds.), Persuasion: Psychological insights and perspectives (pp. 81–116). Thousand Oaks: Sage.
Rossiter, J. R., Percy, L., & Donovan, R. J. (1991). A better advertising planning grid. Journal of Advertising Research, 31(5), 11–21.
Shehryar, O., & Hunt, D. M. (2005). A terror management perspective on the persuasiveness of fear appeals. Journal of Consumer Psychology, 15(4), 275–287.
Shiv, B., & Fedorikhin, A. (1999). Heart and mind in conflict: the interplay of affect and cognition in consumer decision making. Journal of Consumer Research, 26(3), 278–292.
Taylor, D. (2005). Brand stretch - why 1 in 2 extensions fail, and how to beat the odds: a brandgym workout. New York: Wiley.
Völckner, F., & Sattler, H. (2006). Drivers of brand extension success. Journal of Marketing, 70(2), 18–34.
Völckner, F., & Sattler, H. (2007). Empirical generalizability of consumer evaluations of brand extensions. International Journal of Research in Marketing, 24(2), 149–162.
Wing, H. (2004). Brand extension is not a low risk option that firms think it is. Media Asia, p. 11.
Acknowledgement
The authors gratefully acknowledge financial support of the Research Foundation Flanders (FWO Vlaanderen). We would also like to acknowledge the support of Insites Consulting in the data collection process and Think.BBDO for the development of the advertising stimuli.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Dens, N., De Pelsmacker, P. Advertising for extensions: Moderating effects of extension type, advertising strategy, and product category involvement on extension evaluation. Mark Lett 21, 175–189 (2010). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11002-009-9086-1
Received:
Accepted:
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11002-009-9086-1