Good Guys Can Finish First: How Brand Reputation Affects Extension Evaluations

Abstract

This research investigates how consumer evaluations of brand extensions are affected by two distinct types of brand reputation: a reputation for social responsibility built through commitments to societal obligations, versus a reputation for ability developed by delivering quality offerings. Through six studies, we establish that while the two reputation types equivalently influence high fit brand extensions, a reputation for social responsibility (vs. ability) leads to more favorable responses toward low fit brand extensions by inducing a desire to support and help the company that has acted to benefit consumers. Furthermore, the facilitative effect of social responsibility on low fit brand extension evaluations is more prominent among consumers who value close relationships and caring for one another's well‐being (i.e., those with high communal orientation), and tends to dissipate when social responsibility initiatives are tainted with self‐serving motives (i.e., when these initiatives are aligned with the brand's core offering).

How Life-Role Transitions Shape Consumer Responses to Brand Extensions

“…Our findings contribute to a better understanding of brand extension evaluations by showing that life-role transition, a seemingly unrelated life event that consumers undergo when evaluating a brand extension, plays a critical role in determining responses toward distant brand extensions. In so doing, our research contributes to an emerging body of research that calls for a better understanding of how consumers evaluate brand extensions, especially distant brand extensions, in realistic marketplace conditions (Cutright, Bettman, and Fitzsimons 2013;Johnson et al 2019;Klink and Smith 2001;Meyvis, Goldsmith, and Dhar 2012;Parker et al 2018), and it reveals that consumers' product preferences can be grounded in their life dynamics. Last, our findings provide practical suggestions for brand managers.…”

“…It reinforces the proposition that, in addition to parent brand characteristics (e.g., high vs. low company competence), an understanding of consumer characteristics (i.e., dynamics of their life stage) is critical for determining how consumers react to brand extensions. Although recent research has focused on determinants of responses to distant brand extensions (Cutright, Bettman, and Fitzsimons 2013;Johnson et al 2019;Meyvis, Goldsmith, and Dhar 2012;Parker et al 2018), the current research differs from them and contributes by identifying new mechanisms influencing brand extension evaluation. For example, it differs from Cutright, Bettman, and Fitzsimons (2013), who show that perceived control decreases evaluation for distant brand extensions, in that our operationalization of life-role transition did not affect perceived control.…”

“…Consider, for example, Capital One cafés, Ferrari theme parks, Huggies day care centers, and NASCAR romance novels. Reflecting this trend, academic research has focused its attention on distant brand extensions (i.e., extensions that are perceived to have low or moderate fit with the brand's existing core line of products; Chun et al 2015;Cutright, Bettman, and Fitzsimons 2013;Johnson et al 2019;Meyvis, Goldsmith, and Dhar 2012;Monga and John 2007;Parker et al 2018) and has highlighted multiple benefits that such extensions offer, such as allowing consumers to variety-seek within the brand, maintaining relevance among consumers, expanding revenue streams, and diversifying sales risk (Chun et al 2015;Parker et al 2018). Indeed, the launch of the Dyson Supersonic hair dryer in 2016 allowed the Dyson brand, which until then mostly focused on vacuum cleaners, to diversify sales risk and dramatically increase its revenue by 28% to £4.4 billion (Chandler 2019).…”

Neural Bases of Brand Reputation Effect on Extension Evaluation: An ERPs Study

“…From the perspective of consumers, several researchers argue that a brand with strong ability will be more attractive than socially responsible ( Johnson et al, 2017 ), whereas other researchers consider that consumers prefer brands with good socially responsible reputations ( Hur et al, 2013 ). Moreover, a recent study by adopting a behavioral measurement has proved the essential role of the two types of brand reputation effect on brand extension ( Johnson et al, 2019 ). They have indicated that the socially responsible reputation of a brand could provide a warm feeling for consumers and further effectively increase the acceptance of distant extension products.…”

Relación entre la imagen de marca y el comportamiento de los usuarios de servicios deportivos

“…Debido a ello, existen estudios que pretenden conocer en mayor profundidad cuál es la relación que se genera entre las marcas y las emociones de los consumidores (Tellis et al, 2019;Xie, Bagozzi, & Grønhaug, 2019). Si a pesar de las dificultades que estamos comentando, la compañía consigue crear y transmitir adecuadamente su imagen de marca, y consigue además que esta se mantenga en niveles positivos a lo largo del tiempo, consolidará esa imagen de marca, creando lo que conocemos como reputación (Johnson et al, 2019;Loureiro, Sarmento, & Le-Bellego, 2017). El rendimiento y dicha reputación, se formarán a partir de elementos como el logo, el nombre, la marca en general, así como la conciencia de los usuarios sobre ella (Foroudi, 2019) y supondrá un elemento diferencial en la alta competencia entre marcas que hay en el mercado, mejorando el valor de los productos que ofrece la marca y los resultados económicos de la empresa (Villafañe, 2001).…”