The Effect of Brand Portfolio Characteristics on Consumer Evaluations of Brand Extensions
作者研究了品牌组合特征如何影响消费者对品牌延伸的评价。品牌组合指一个品牌下涵盖多个产品类别。作者通过两个实验室实验和一个问卷调查，考察了品牌组合中产品数量、质量差异等特征对消费者评价延伸产品时的信心和好感度的影响。实验发现，品牌关联的产品数量越多，消费者对延伸产品质量的评价越有信心、也越正面。但问卷调查未重复这一结果。不过，两种方法都显示，当品牌组合内产品质量差异较小时，产品数量与消费者评价信心之间的正向关系更明显。作者还讨论了这些发现对品牌管理理论和实践的启示。
A growing number of brands are becoming associated with a portfolio of different product categories. Although concerns have been raised that adding products to a brand may weaken it, there is a paucity of research exploring the effects of brand portfolio characteristics on brand strength. Using two laboratory experiments and a survey, the authors examine the effects of several brand portfolio characteristics on consumers’ confidence in and favorability of their evaluations of subsequent brand extensions. The experiment-based findings reveal a positive relationship between the number of products affiliated with a brand and consumers’ confidence in and favorability of their evaluations of extension quality. These results were not replicated in the survey. However, in both methods, the authors found that as portfolio quality variance decreases, a positive relationship between number of products affiliated with a brand and consumers’ confidence in their extension evaluations emerges. Implications of these and other findings for both the theory and practice of brand management are discussed.