Short answer
When planning a brand extension, focus on demonstrating a clear and relevant connection to your existing product line and consistently deliver excellent customer service to foster trust and encourage adoption of new offerings.
- Field
- Innovation & Markets
- Source
- Psychology and Marketing (2018)
- Method
- Empirical testing of an integrative model
- Sample
- 342 participants
- Evidence
- Strong effect
Consumers are more likely to purchase a brand's new product in a different category if they perceive a strong fit between the original and extended product, and if they have experienced high service quality with the original purchase. This innovation & markets research insight is drawn from a 2018 study published in Psychology and Marketing. Using Empirical testing of an integrative model with 342 participants, researchers explored how this design variable affects real-world outcomes. The key design takeaway: When planning a brand extension, focus on demonstrating a clear and relevant connection to your existing product line and consistently deliver excellent customer service to foster trust and encourage adoption of new offerings.
Perceived Fit and Service Quality Drive Brand Extension Purchase Intent
Consumers are more likely to purchase a brand's new product in a different category if they perceive a strong fit between the original and extended product, and if they have experienced high service quality with the original purchase.
Psychology and Marketing · 2018
Key Findings
- 01Perceived service quality of the initial purchase positively impacts continuance purchase intentions toward a brand extension.
- 02Perceived fit between the original product and the brand extension strongly influences continuance purchase intentions.
- 03Brand satisfaction and post-acceptance usefulness perceptions also affect purchase intentions.
- 04Hedonic and utilitarian expectancy mediate the relationship between post-consumption views of the initial purchase and intention for subsequent purchases.
Application
Design takeaway
When planning a brand extension, focus on demonstrating a clear and relevant connection to your existing product line and consistently deliver excellent customer service to foster trust and encourage adoption of new offerings.
How to apply
Before launching a new product under an existing brand, conduct market research to assess the perceived fit with your current offerings and ensure your customer service infrastructure is robust enough to support the new product line.
Project actions
- 01When researching a brand extension, consider how the new product aligns with the brand's existing image and customer base.
- 02Investigate how customer service experiences with a brand's current products might influence their willingness to try new ones.
Method & Evidence
Variables
Strengths & Limitations
Strengths
- +Integrative model combining marketing and IS research.
- +Empirical testing with a substantial sample size.
Limitations
The study's findings are specific to the IT industry and may not directly apply to all product types. The sample was limited to customers of one brand.
Reliability & validity
The study's reliability and validity would be strengthened by using established scales for measuring constructs like perceived fit, service quality, and purchase intention, and by employing robust statistical analysis techniques.
Think critically
To what extent does the 'perceived fit' depend on the actual technical compatibility versus the marketing narrative presented by the brand?
Design Principles
"Brand extensions are more successful when there is a demonstrable perceived fit with the parent brand and when the brand has a strong track record of delivering high-quality products and services."
Understanding the drivers of successful brand extensions is crucial for market expansion and product portfolio management. This insight helps designers and marketers identify key factors that influence consumer adoption of new product lines, reducing the risk associated with launching unfamiliar offerings.
What This Means for Your Design
If a company launches a new product in a different area, people are more likely to buy it if they think it makes sense for that company to make it (perceived fit) and if they had a good experience with the company's other products before (service quality).
How to use in your project
- 1.Use this research to justify the importance of brand perception and customer experience when analyzing the success or failure of a brand extension in your design project.
Add to My Project
Quick Cite
Paragraph starter
This study highlights that for a brand extension to be successful, particularly in the IT sector, a strong perceived fit between the original and extended product categories, coupled with high perceived service quality from the initial purchase, are critical determinants of consumer purchase intention. These factors, along with overall brand satisfaction and usefulness perceptions, significantly influence a customer's willingness to adopt a new product under an established brand name.
Source
Psychology and Marketing
Understanding cross‐product purchase intention in an IT brand extension context
journal · 2018
View sourceQuestions About This Research
- What does the research say about perceived fit and service quality drive brand extension purchase intent?
- When planning a brand extension, focus on demonstrating a clear and relevant connection to your existing product line and consistently deliver excellent customer service to foster trust and encourage adoption of new offerings. Evidence: Psychology and Marketing (2018).
- Why does "Perceived Fit and Service Quality Drive Brand Extension Purchase Intent" matter for design?
- Understanding the drivers of successful brand extensions is crucial for market expansion and product portfolio management. This insight helps designers and marketers identify key factors that influence consumer adoption of new product lines, reducing the risk associated with launching unfamiliar offerings.
- How can designers apply this research?
- When planning a brand extension, focus on demonstrating a clear and relevant connection to your existing product line and consistently deliver excellent customer service to foster trust and encourage adoption of new offerings.
- What were the main findings?
- Perceived service quality of the initial purchase positively impacts continuance purchase intentions toward a brand extension.. Perceived fit between the original product and the brand extension strongly influences continuance purchase intentions.. Brand satisfaction and post-acceptance usefulness perceptions also affect purchase intentions.. Hedonic and utilitarian expectancy mediate the relationship between post-consumption views of the initial purchase and intention for subsequent purchases.
- What research method was used?
- Empirical testing of an integrative model with 342 participants.
- How strong is the evidence?
- Evidence strength is rated Strong effect, based on a 2018 journal from Psychology and Marketing.
- What should I do differently in my next project?
- Before launching a new product under an existing brand, conduct market research to assess the perceived fit with your current offerings and ensure your customer service infrastructure is robust enough to support the new product line.
- What are the limitations?
- The study focused on a specific IT brand, and findings may vary across different industries or product categories. The mediating roles of hedonic and utilitarian expectancy could be further explored.