Business Commons^™

Good Guys Can Finish First: How Brand Reputation Affects Extension Evaluations, Sarah Lefebvre, Zachary Johnson, Huifang Mao, Jaishankar Ganesh

Faculty & Staff Research and Creative Activity

This research investigates how consumer evaluations of brand extensions are affected by two distinct types of brand reputation: a reputation for social responsibility built through commitments to societal obligations, versus a reputation for ability developed by delivering quality offerings. Through six studies, we establish that while the two reputation types equivalently influence high fit brand extensions, a reputation for social responsibility (vs. ability) leads to more favorable responses toward low fit brand extensions by inducing a desire to support and help the company that has acted to benefit consumers. Furthermore, the facilitative effect of social responsibility on low fit brand …