Brand and category design consistency in brand extensions
| Pages | 272-285 |
| DOI | https://doi.org/10.1108/JPBM-03-2012-0109 |
| Date | 19 July 2013 |
| Published date | 19 July 2013 |
| Author | Yi Sheng Goh,Veena Chattaraman,Sandra Forsythe |
| Subject Matter | Marketing,Product management,Brand management/equity |
Brand and category design consistency in brand
extensions
Yi Sheng Goh
Institute of Creative Industries Design, National Cheng Kung University, Tainan, Taiwan, and
Veena Chattaraman and Sandra Forsythe
Department of Consumer Affairs, Auburn University, Auburn, Alabama, USA
Abstract
Purpose – This study aims to investigate the influence of two critical brand extension design components –brand design consistency and category
design consistency –on the formation of consumers’ product attitudes and purchase intentions. It also aims to examine the underlying mechanism for
attitude formation towards new brand extensions using processing fluency theory and the moderation of brand strength.
Design/methodology/approach – A 2 (brand design consistency: high vs low) £2 (category design consistency: high vs low) £2 (brand strength:
strong vs weak) £2 (processing fluency: conceptual vs perceptual) between subjects experiment with 642 participants was used to test the proposed
hypotheses and model.
Findings – Results obtained from SEM and ANCOVA demonstrate that both brand and category design consistencies assert significant effects on new
product attitude in brand extensions; however, the relative effect of category design consistency is greater. Further, the effect of category design
consistency varies as a function of brand strength, and is stronger for weak brands than for strong brands.
Practical implications – Brand managers should maintain consistency of extension product design with both the parent brand and the new product
category, and prioritize the latter for weak brands.
Originality/value – This study integrates brand extension and aesthetics research on prototypicality to formulate and test important research
questions, previously unexamined. Further,realistically-rendered product images, allowing both conceptual and perceptual processing, were used in the
experiment to provide a better imitation of real product choices – an approach different from most extant brand extension studies, which utilize verbal
stimuli.
Keywords Design consistency, Perceived fit, Brand strength, Processing fluency, Brand extensions, Brands, Consumer behaviour
Paper type Research paper
An executive summary for managers and executive
readers can be found at the end of this article.
Introduction
Brand extension strategy leverages the equity of an established
brand name to increase consumer acceptance of a new
extension product that carries the same brand name (Keller,
1993). Victoria’s Secret, a lingerie brand extending into the
beauty products market is one example of a successful brand
extension. Despite numerous successes, the US brand
extension failure rate is reported to be as high as 80 percent
in many consumer goods categories (Ernst & Young, 1999).
Levi’s extension into the suits category and Bic’s extension to
women’s underwear category serve to exemplify such failures.
Although there is immense research in the area of brand
extension, this study contributes to the literature by
examining how consumers evaluate extension products
when they already have existing mental images of the brand
and the category. Consider this scenario which illustrates one
of the most critical decisions in brand extension – the trade-
off between brand image and product image: if Gap wants to
extend to lingerie, should it maintain Gap’s brand image of
simple and comfortable or should it go for typical lingerie
image of sexy and lacy? In this research, the former is termed
brand design consistency (BDC), or the extent to which the
design of an extension product is congruent with the parent
brand image. The latter is termed category design consistency
(CDC), or the degree to which the design of an extension
product is prototypical of its category exemplar.
Prior research on similar constructs is based on verbal
descriptions of brands and their extensions. However, a design
has both form and concept (i.e. abstract meaning). The same
concept can be presented in various forms. By the same token,
a single concept of a brand (e.g. natural) can be translated into
different designs that exhibit the concept. For example, the
concept of natural can be manifested through soft fabric, green
product appearance or even a matte finish. The current study
utilizes visual stimuli in construct manipulations to offer a new
and significant perspec tive on these critical fa ctors by
emphasizing the perceptual nature of these constructs.
The overarching purpose of this study is to systematically
examine the impact of BDC and CDC on consumers’
attitudes and purchase intentions toward brand extensions,
and to provide insight on the underlying mechanism for these
effects using processing fluency theory. In addition, this study
examines brand strength as a potential moderator to address
the differential effects that BDC and CDC assert on strong
versus weak brands.
The current issue and full text archive of this journal is available at
www.emeraldinsight.com/1061-0421.htm
Journal of Product & Brand Management
22/4 (2013) 272–285
qEmerald Group Publishing Limited [ISSN 1061-0421]
[DOI 10.1108/JPBM-03-2012-0109]
272
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