International Journal of Sport Management

Sport Brand Extension Evaluation: The Role of Brand Extension Authenticity

Myungwoo Lee, DongHun Lee, Michael Cottingham, Billy Hawkins, Ho Yeol Yu

Abstract: Brand extension is a valuable strategic device for firms to expand their business spectrum beyond their original brands or product categories as well as to enhance their brand equity. However, failure of a brand extension is not uncommon, and little attention has been given to analyzing failures of brand extension evaluations. Moreover, although brand authenticity is one key to understanding consumers’ perceptions of brand reputation, no attention has been paid to the way in which sport consumers perceive the concept of authenticity in the sport manufacturing context. Data were collected from 504 undergraduate students who were given questionnaires asking two different brand models. Structural equation modeling suggests that brand extension authenticity plays a key role in the relationship between perceived fit and brand extension evaluations in both success and failure cases. Furthermore, brand extension authenticity is directly associated with positive brand extension evaluation in both success and failure cases.

Keywords: brand authenticity, brand evaluation, extension brand

Citation: Lee, M., Lee, D. H., Cottingham, M., Hawkins, B., & Yu, H. Y. (2019). Sport brand extension evaluation: The role of brand extension authenticity. International Journal of Sport Management, 20(2), 125-149.

References

  • Aaker, D. (1990). Brand extensions: The good, the bad, and the ugly. MIT Sloan Management Review, 31(4), 47-56.
  • Aaker, D.A., & Keller, K.L. (1990). Consumer evaluations of brand extensions. The Journal of Marketing, 54(1), 27-41.
  • Aaker, J.L., & Lee, A.Y. (2001). “I” seek pleasures and “we” avoid pains: The role of self-regulatory goals in information processing and persuasion. Journal of Consumer Research, 28(1), 33-49.
  • Apostolopoulou, A. (2002). Brand extensions by US professional sport teams: Motivations and keys to success. Sport Marketing Quarterly, 11(4), 205-214.
  • Badenhausen, K. (2017, June 9). Michael Jordan leads the NBA’s biggest shoe deals at $110 million this year. The Forbes. Retrieved from https://www.forbes.com/sites/kurtbadenhausen/2017/06/09/the-nbas-biggest-shoe-deals/#390f625d1520
  • Barone, M.J., Miniard, P.W., & Romeo, J.B. (2000). The influence of positive mood on brand extension evaluations. Journal of Consumer Research, 26(4), 386-400.
  • Beverland, M.B. (2006). The ‘real thing’: Branding authenticity in the luxury wine trade. Journal of Business Research, 59(2), 251-258.
  • Beverland, M.B. (2005). Crafting brand authenticity: The case of luxury wines. Journal of Management Studies, 42(5), 1003-1029.
  • Beverland, M.B., & Farrelly, F.J. (2010). The quest for authenticity in consumption: Consumers’ purposive choice of authentic cues to shape experienced outcomes. Journal of Consumer Research, 36(5), 838-856.
  • Bhat, S., & Reddy, S.K. (2001). The impact of the parent brand attribute associations and affect on brand extension evaluation. Journal of Business Research, 53(3), 111-122.
  • Boush, D.M., & Loken, B. (1991). A process-tracing study of brand extension evaluation. Journal of Marketing Research, 28(1), 16-28.
  • Broniarczyk, S.M., & Alba, J.W. (1994). The importance of the brand in brand extension. Journal of Marketing Research, 31(2), 214-228.
  • Buil, I., De Chernatony, L., & Hem, L.E. (2009). Brand extension strategies: Perceived fit, brand type, and culture influences. European Journal of marketing, 43(11/12), 1300-1324.
  • Carter, R.E., & Curry, D J. (2013). Perceptions versus performance when managing extensions: New evidence about the role of fit between a parent brand and an extension. Journal of the Academy of Marketing Science, 41(2), 253-269.
  • Chhabra, D., Healy, R., & Sills, E. (2003). Staged authenticity and heritage tourism. Annals of Tourism Research, 30(3), 702-719.
  • Dens, N., & De Pelsmacker, P. (2010). Advertising for extensions: Moderating effects of extension type, advertising strategy, and product category involvement on extension evaluation. Marketing Letters, 21(2), 175-189.
  • Dens, N., & De Pelsmacker, P. (2016). Does poor fit always lead to negative evaluations? Extension advertising and perceived brand quality. International Journal of Advertising, 35(3), 465-485.
  • Eggers, F., O’Dwyer, M., Kraus, S., Vallaster, C., & Güldenberg, S. (2013). The impact of brand authenticity on brand trust and SME growth: A CEO perspective. Journal of World Business, 48(3), 340-348.
  • Fiske, S.T., & Pavelchak, M.A. (1986). Category-based versus piecemeal-based affective responses: Developments in schema-triggered affect. New York, NY: Guilford.
  • Fritz, K., Schoenmueller, V., & Bruhn, M. (2017). Authenticity in branding–exploring antecedents and consequences of brand authenticity. European Journal of marketing, 51(2), 324-348.
  • Giannoulakis, C. (2016). The “authenticitude” battle in action sports: A case-based industry perspective. Sport Management Review, 19(2), 171-182.
  • Gilmore, J.H., & Pine, B.J. (2007). Authenticity: What consumers really want. Boston, Mass: Harvard Business Press.
  • Grayson, K., & Martinec, R. (2004). Consumer perceptions of iconicity and indexicality and their influence on assessments of authentic market offerings. Journal of Consumer Research, 31(2), 296-312.
  • Grazian, D. (2005). Blue Chicago: The search for authenticity in urban blues clubs. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.
  • Gundlach, H., & Neville, B. (2012). Authenticity: Further theoretical and practical development. Journal of Brand Management, 19(6), 484-499.
  • Hair, J., Anderson, R., Tatham, R., & Black, W. (Eds.). (2006). Multivariate data analysis. New Jersey, NJ: Prentice Hall.
  • Holt, D.B. (2004). How brands become icons: The principles of cultural branding. Boston, Mass: Harvard Business Press.
  • Ilicic, J., & Webster, C.M. (2014). Investigating consumer–brand relational authenticity. Journal of Brand Management, 21(4), 342-363.
  • Kates, S.M. (2004). The dynamics of brand legitimacy: An interpretive study in the gay men’s community. Journal of Consumer Research, 31(2), 455-464.
  • Keller, K.L. (1993). Conceptualizing, measuring, and managing customer-based brand equity. The Journal of Marketing, 57(1), 1-22.
  • Keller, K.L., & Aaker, D.A. (1992). The effects of sequential introduction of brand extensions. Journal of Marketing Research, 29(1), 35-50.
  • Kline, R.B. (Eds.). (2011). Principles and practice of structural equation modeling. New York, NY: Guilford Press.
  • Kolar, T., & Zabkar, V. (2010). A consumer-based model of authenticity: An oxymoron or the foundation of cultural heritage marketing? Tourism Management, 31(5), 652-664.
  • Lee, D., Blom, C.L., Zhang, J.J., Kim, S.H., & Judge, L.W. (2015). Sport brand extension evaluations: Relationships among brand breath, brand fit, brand attitude, and purchase intention. International Journal of Sport Management, 16(2), 1-17.
  • Lee, D., Giannoulakis, C., Pearson, D., Breslin, W., & Kim, S.H. (2017). Perceived authenticity of sport teams: An exploratory analysis. International Journal of Sport Management, 18, 292-312.
  • Lye, A., Venkateswarlu, P., & Barrett, J. (2001). Brand extensions: prestige brand effects. Australasian Marketing Journal, 9(2), 53-65.
  • Martin, I.M., & Stewart, D.W. (2001). The differential impact of goal congruency on attitudes, intentions, and the transfer of brand equity. Journal of Marketing Research, 38(4), 471-484.
  • Martinez, E., & Pina, J.M. (2003). The negative impact of brand extensions on parent brand image. Journal of Product & Brand Management, 12(7), 432-448.
  • Martinez, E., & Pina, J.M. (2010). Consumer responses to brand extensions: A comprehensive model. European Journal of Marketing, 44(7/8), 1182-1205.
  • McCartney, G., & Osti, L. (2007). From cultural events to sport events: A case study of cultural authenticity in the Dragon Boat Races. Journal of Sport Tourism, 12(1), 25-40.
  • Morhart, F., Malar, L., Guevremont, A., Girardin, F., & Grohmann, B. (2015). Brand authenticity: An integrative framework and measurement scale. Journal of Consumer Psychology, 25(2), 200-218.
  • Napoli, J., Dickinson, S.J., Beverland, M. B., & Farrelly, F. (2014). Measuring consumer-based brand authenticity. Journal of Business Research, 67(6), 1090-1098.
  • Novello, S., & Fernandez, P.M. (2016). The influence of event authenticity and quality attributes on behavioral intentions. Journal of Hospitality & Tourism Research, 40(6), 685-714.
  • Papadimitriou, D., Apostolopoulou, A., & Loukas, I. (2004). The role of perceived fit in fans’ evaluation of sports brand extensions. International Journal of Sports Marketing and Sponsorship, 6(1), 27-44.
  • Park, C.W., McCarthy, M.S., & Milberg, S. J. (1993). The effects of direct and associative brand extension strategies on consumer response to brand extensions. Advances in Consumer Research, 20(1), 28-33.
  • Park, C.W., Milberg, S., & Lawson, R. (1991). Evaluation of brand extensions: the role of product feature similarity and brand concept consistency. Journal of Consumer Research, 18(2), 185-193.
  • Pechmann, C., & Knight, S.J. (2002). An experimental investigation of the joint effects of advertising and peers on adolescents’ beliefs and intentions about cigarette consumption. Journal of Consumer Research, 29(1), 5-19.
  • Penaloza, L. (2000). The commodification of the American West: Marketers’ production of cultural meanings at the trade show. Journal of Marketing, 64(4), 82-109.
  • Rosch, E. (1975). Cognitive representations of semantic categories. Journal of Experimental Psychology: General, 104(3), 192-233.
  • Rose, R.L., & Wood, S.L. (2005). Paradox and the consumption of authenticity through reality television. Journal of Consumer Research, 32(2), 284-296.
  • Salinas, E.M., & Perez, J.M.P. (2009). Modeling the brand extensions’ influence on brand image. Journal of Business Research, 62(1), 50-60.
  • Smith, D.C., & Andrews, J. (1995). Rethinking the effect of perceived fit on customers’ evaluations of new products. Journal of the Academy of Marketing Science, 23(1), 4-14.
  • Spiggle, S., Nguyen, H.T., & Caravella, M. (2012). More than fit: brand extension authenticity. Journal of Marketing Research, 49(6), 967-983.
  • Tait, B. (2001). Do gaps in marketing theory make new brands fail? Admap, 36(6), 40-43.
  • Thompson, C.J., Rindfleisch, A., & Arsel, Z. (2006). Emotional branding and the strategic value of the doppelgänger brand image. Journal of Marketing, 70(1), 50-64.
  • Volckner, F., & Sattler, H. (2006). Drivers of brand extension success. Journal of Marketing, 70(2), 18-34.
  • Walsh, P., & Lee, S. (2012). Development of a brand extension decision-making model for professional sport teams. Sport Marketing Quarterly, 21(4), 232-242.
  • Walsh, P., Rhenwrick, I., Williams, A., & Waldburger, A. (2014). Team brand extension or licensed product? Examining consumer awareness of two distinct brand strategies. Sport, Business and Management: An International Journal, 4(2), 96-108.
  • Walsh, P., & Ross, S.D. (2010). Examining brand extensions and their potential to dilute team brand associations. Sport Marketing Quarterly, 19(4), 196-206.
  • Walsh, P., & Williams, A. (2017). To extend or not extend a human brand: An analysis of perceived fit and attitudes toward athlete brand extensions. Journal of Sport Management, 31(1), 44-60.
  • Zeithaml, V.A. (1988). Consumer perceptions of price, quality, and value: a means-end model and synthesis of evidence. The Journal of Marketing, 52(3), 2-22.

Discover more from International Journal of Sport Management

Subscribe now to keep reading and get access to the full archive.

Continue reading