THE IMPORTANCE OF THE BRAND IN BRAND EXTENSION

Recent research has identified two factors that influence consumer per ceptions of a brand extension: brand affect and the similarity between the original and extension product categories. However, surprisingly little attention has been paid to other associations specific to the b rand itself. The authors perform three experiments to explore the rela tive importance of these associations. The experiments reveal that bra nd-specific associations may dominate the effects of brand affect and category similarity, particularly when consumer knowledge of the brand s is high. The authors conclude by discussing the implications of thes e findings for managerial decision making and the process by which con sumers evaluate brand extensions.