The importance of brand‐specific associations in brand extension: further empirical results

Abstract

This paper reports a replication of Broniarczyk and Alba’s study of the influence of brand‐specific associations on brand extensions. The results broadly support the original study showing brand‐specific associations ( i.e. attributes which differentiate a brand from the competition)can dominate the effects of the parent brand to the point where they reverse extension evaluations. Thus the study provides further evidence to challenge the commonly held assumption that the effect associated with the original brand name and product category is automatically transferred to the brand extension.