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Top1. Introduction
Brand extension is an important marketing method to offer new products. The method has achieved both successes and failures in Pakistan: Jang, a category leader in Urdu newspapers had extended its spin-off, Geo News, in electronic media category. Over a period of time, Geo News also became a category leader. However, Waqt, a news channel of Nawai Waqt, 2nd best Urdu newspaper, has failed to position itself in electronic media category. Similarly, Dawlance, leader in refrigerator category could not position itself in television and microwave categories. Why some failed, but others succeed? Subsequently, a number of similar studies were conducted in various countries.
Purchase intention is the implied promise to one’s self to buy the product again whenever one makes next trip to the market (Fandos & Flavian, 2006; Halim & Hameed, 2005). It has a substantial importance because the companies want to increase the sale of specific product for the purpose to maximize their profit. Purchase intention depicts the impression of customer retention. There are certain functions of the brand which have a strong influence on the purchase intention of the customer’s i.e. brand image, product quality, product knowledge, product involvement, product attributes and brand loyalty.
Firms are considered good and bad not only on the basis of their behaviors in the ethical domain but also from the ways their products perform. Previous research supports the notion that negative information about product attributes influences consumers’ attitudes toward brands more than does positive information about product attributes (Herr, Kardes, & Kim, 1991). Although attribute performance suggests how to classify the product (Herr et al., 1991), such information may be much less diagnostic of a firm’s underlying characteristics. Firms may have reasons for offering low-quality products that do not suggest bad character a low-quality product is designed to serve a segments’ need for a low-priced product. If so, consumer attitudes should differ depending on firm ethics regardless of product attribute inferiority. Shabbir et al. (2016) at some extent, some of the social media applications in the present time have become most efficient and effective tool for small business entrepreneurs and normally all small business use social media platform for the advertising and publicity of their products and services, they make fan pages for the followers and they warmly welcome the suggestions and opinions which help in improving their business.
To maximize the acceptance and recognition of new products in Pakistan, it is appropriate to test the theory by hypothesizing that favorable consumer evaluation of brand extension in Pakistan is dependent on attributes of complementarity, substitutability, transferability and difficulty, and the indirect effect of parent brand quality through moderating role of quality on the complementarity and substitutability. To maximize the acceptance and recognition of new products in Pakistan, it is appropriate to test the theory for Pakistan. We have used survey method (Likert scale 1-7) to determine attributes of consumer evaluation of brand extension in Pakistan.
The concept of brand equity has been discussed and explained by several studies. Brand equity is been explained through two major perspectives financial aspect and marketing aspect. Brands used to be associated with products, but it has been a consideration on corporate brands (Mott ram, 1998). Brand equity refers to the endowed value in the mind of the customer. Brand image and brand awareness are the factors which creates perception in the mind of the customer and these factors eventually add value in brand equity (Pina 2003). The important concept here is consumer memory. Associative model conveys that memory is the set of interlinked nodes and links (Wryer & Srull, 1989; Keller, 1993). Brand extension is the extended or additional product within the same or different category of the same brand. Brand extensions strategies are assumed to increase the efficiency of the firm’s investment in advertisement and creating awareness through advertisement (Aaker, 1990; Simon & Sullivan, 1991; Tauber, 1988).