KOREASCHOLAR

Newly extended brands may use the retailers as a channel for new products in order that consumers can become familiar with them, since retailers as an initial contact point of transactions have become empowered to supply products to consumers. Related research has suggested that horizontal or vertical extensions enable brand companies to introduce new products by collaborating with retailers to offer a one-of-a- kind product line to differentiate their products and to gain the attention of consumers. Even though brand companies often produce different products through more than one extension, the effects of multiple extensions in a brand are not clearly investigated. In this regard, the current study aims to focus on how consumers evaluate extended brand products depending on the brand extension types (vertical and horizontal) when a brand collaborates with a retailer. Drawn from the attitude accessibility theory (Fazio, 1986), the conceptual framework was developed. The hypothesized relationships were examined using structural equation modeling (SEM) techniques with survey data of 218 responses for the vertical extension and 226 responses for the horizontal extension. The results show that the image fit between a brand and retailer has a significant relationship with attitude toward brand and consumers’ evaluations of brand extensions. However, the results highlight that the quality fit is only directly related to retailer attitude in the case of horizontal extension. Overall, the findings provide empirical evidence on how perceived fit between brand and retailer influences consumers’ attitude and brand extension evaluations. The current study makes several key contributions to both academia and industry practitioners by explaining how new products from extended brands may have different evaluative processes depending on the types of brand extensions when collaborating with a retailer.

• Hyo Jin Eom(Korea University, Korea)
• Patricia Hunt-Hurst(University of Georgia, USA)
• Laura (Zhenqiu) Lu(University of Georgia, USA)