Consumers'Responses to Brand Extensions: An Emotional Perspective

摘要

Brand extension(BE)strategy involves an established brand introducing products in a similar(high fit)or dissimilar(low fit)product category(e.g.,Ralph Lauren's shoes and Ralph Lauren's furniture represent high and low BE respectively).While this strategy can capitalize on the parent brand equity to grow market share,it does not always succeed.For instance,Colgate failed with a ready meal product.We propose that consumers'emotional responses to BEs can be a reason behind the poor adoption of such products.We deploy the cognitive appraisal theory to illustrate how cognitive evaluation(appraisal dimensions)of(high versus low fit)BEs elicits consumers'emotional responses,and consequently behavioral responses.Based on this,the present research proposes three research questions:(1)Can fit of BEs evoke consumers'emotional responses?(2)Can BE-induced consumers'emotional responses also affect consumers'subsequent behavioral outcomes?(3)Can company controllable strategies,such as developing emotional brand attachment and adopting sub-branding strategy for BEs,enhance positive and/or mitigate negative emotional responses to BEs?