1、 外文 原文 : The effect of brand extension strategies upon brand image This paper was developed during the first authors research stay at the Centre for Research in Brand Marketing, Birmingham Business School, supported by the “Ministerio de Educacin, Culturay Deporte” of the Government of Spain (Ref. P
2、R2002-012). She wishes to express her gratitude for the financial help received from the CICYT (project SEC2002-03949). The authors would like to thank Susan Drury for her helpful comments. Abstract The objective of this paper is to analyze the effect that a brand extension strategy has on brand ima
3、ge. Specifically, the paper analyzes how variables related to the parent brand and the extension influence brand image after the extension. From a sample of 389 consumers the paper demonstrates that the extension strategy dilutes the brand image. Through a regression analysis it is shown that the pe
4、rceived quality of the brand and consumers attitudes towards the extension positively influence both the general brand image (GBI) and the product brand image (PBI) after the extension. While familiarity with the products of the brand only affect the GBI, the perceived degree of fit affects the PBI.
5、 Keyword ： Consumer behavior； Perception； Brand image； Brand extensions； Marketing strategy. Introduction In todays market, having a well thought through brand strategy is a key contribution to corporate success. Brands enable consumers to efficiently encode their functional and emotional values in
6、their minds (Franzen and Bouwman, 2001). The resulting images enable consumers to recognize the points of difference between competing brands. Keller (1993) defines brand image as the “perceptions about a brand as reflected by the brand associations held in consumer memory”. These associations refer
7、 to any aspect that link the brand with the consumers memory (Aaker, 1996a). Relationships are then created between consumers personalities and the perceived personalities of brands (de Chernatony and Benicio de Mello, 1995； Fournier, 1998； Hogg et al., 2000). One of the challenges for marketers is
8、how to determine the associations consumers have of specific brands. Suggestions are provided by writers such as Low and Lamb (2000) who developed a protocol to measure brand image. Even though relating the measurement of brand image directly to the product appears a reasonable way to determine what
9、 is in the consumers mind, it should be realised that often products are marketed under an umbrella brand strategy, which could lead to a more general brand image. Keller (1993) argues that within multidimensional brand images, direct associations are seen with both the product and the brand. It is
10、therefore appropriate to consider a method for measuring the dimensions of a brands image that can be used for various product categories and various brands (Aaker, 1996b). When studying a brands image it should be realized that this is not static and is influenced by the numerous decisions that the
11、 company takes about its brand over time. A frequently adopted strategy is that of brand extension. There are several reasons for the popularity of brand extension strategies. For example, the cost of launching a new brand in consumer markets is very high (Pitta and Katsanis, 1995), and the probabil
12、ity of the success for a new product is higher with a well-known parent brand (Aaker, 1991). With the popularity of brand extensions, there is notable literature on the subject exploring how consumers behave as a result of different brand extensions. Specifically, attention has focused on how differ
13、ent variables related to the parent brand (e.g. brand quality, brand reputation, brand breadth, familiarity, etc.) and the extension considered influence consumers. The majority of studies have considered those aspects that increase the success of a brand extension. However, some studies have been c
14、oncerned with the negative effect that the newly extended brand may have on the parent brand (Loken and John, 1993； Grhan-Canli and Maheswaran, 1998； John et al., 1998). The majority of studies in the literature consider perceptions when evaluating the variables that can have a positive or negative
15、influence on the extension, as well as attitudes towards the extended brand. Furthermore the majority of studies are based on experimentation with groups of students. Exceptions to this are seen when the data has been obtained from market survey (Dacin and Smith, 1994； Park and Kim, 2001； Gronhaug e
16、t al., 2002； Hem et al., 2003), or from panel data (Reddy et al., 1994； Swaminatham et al., 2001), or experimentation with samples reflecting specific aspects of brands being studied (Loken and John, 1993； John et al., 1998). Some of these studies have allowed researchers to investigate different ki
17、nds of brands (real and fictitious) across a broad range of extensions, thereby allowing the analysis of the joint effect of different variables. Nevertheless, this technique has received criticism from some authors because of the external validity problems (Kind and Smith, 2001) and the occasional
18、use of hypothetical brands or the forcing of a response in a group environment (Swaminatham et al., 2001). There is a gap in the literature in so far as the effect of brand extensions on brand image has received little attention. We sought to advance knowledge by investigating this. Starting from th
19、e premise that a brands image is based on the associations that consumers have with the brand, we investigated how the consumers perception of brand variables, and the extension itself, affect a brands image. Our concern was to understand the extent to which certain brand extension strategies carry
20、more risk than others. Our objectives were to: Determine the change that occurs to a brands image as a result of a brand extension strategy. We investigated this using two different methods: the general brand image related to the name (GBI) and the brand image related directly to the product (PBI).
21、Study the influence of specific variables on the image after the extension using the above two measurement methods. The variables included are: the quality of the parent brand, knowledge or familiarity with the brand, the fit or similarity between the brand and the extension, and attitudes towards t
22、he extended product. Conceptual background and hypothesis Brand image relevance Within the two perspectives, corporation and consumers, from which the brand can be defined (de Chernatony and DallOlmo, 1997； 1998) emerge two key concepts: brand identity and brand image. Aaker and Joachismsthaler (200
23、0) define brand identity “a set of brand associations that the brand strategist aspires to create or maintain”. Brand identity has to consider multiple aspects, such as the desired positioning and the personality (de Chernatony, 1999), which are attenuated by the organizational culture and the relat
24、ionships staff build with stakeholders. Facilitated by communication mechanisms (Kapferer, 1997), the brand identity forms associations in the consumers mind resulting in a brand image. Both concepts are interrelated and through assessing the congruence between brand identity and image this enables corporations to refine their brand strategy (van Rekom, 1997； Haynes et
