Submitted by: Submitted by aihwachang
Views: 579
Words: 4275
Pages: 18
Category: Business and Industry
Date Submitted: 12/27/2011 03:34 PM
The Influence of Product Similarity, Branding Strategy, and Information
Accessibility on the Processing Mode of Family Brand Information
* Abstract
This research investigates the information processing mode of consumers when facing Family brand information. Using two between-subject-factorial-design experiments, we tested the influence of product similarity, branding strategy, and information accessibility on the mode of information processing. We find that the more similar the product lines, the higher the probability the consumers adopt an on-line information process mode (instead of a memory-based information process mode). However, this is more apparent when the consumers facing a sub-brand, opposed to a parent brand name. We also find that the accessibility of information moderates the effects of product similarity on the mode of information processing. The more accessible the brand information, the more evidence that the consumer adopts an on-line (vs. memeory-based) information processing mode when facing family brands with more similar products than less similar products.
* Introduction
In an era of brand proliferation, companies are increasingly relying on family brands and master brand portfolio to improve efficiency and competitiveness on the market (Keller 1998). Previous research documents consumers form family brand judgments based on perceived fit between the parent brand and brand extension, focusing on the attributes associated with individual product within the family brand (Joiner & Loken, 1998). However, cognitive psychology and consumer researchers point out that consumers may not update their impressions for a family brand each time they encounter a new information about brand extension (i.e., on-line processing), they may instead defer the processing of the information and update their judgment with information retrieved from memory only when they are asked to express their opinions (Hastie and Kumar, 1979; Srull, 1981;...