• Asia Marketing Journal
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• 제15권3호
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• pp.97-115
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• 2013

This paper was motivated by two gaps in the extant literature on brand portfolio planning. First, research has shown that, as the number of products connected to a brand increases, the extended product receives more favorable evaluations. However, this result was obtained by comparing two brands with different number of products while controlling the brands' breadths. Hence one may question if the above result would hold when the brand is narrow as well as broad. Second, the literature has investigated the effect of brand breadth on the perceived fit and evaluations of an extended product within a relatively limited range ("narrow vs. broad") and not considered the case of a "very broad" brand. To address these gaps, we propose two hypotheses: 1) the effects of the number of products associated with a brand on the perceived fit and evaluations of a moderately far brand extension are moderated by the brand's breadth (H1); and 2) the relationship between a brand's breadth and a moderately far extension's perceived fit and evaluations looks like an inverse-U shape (H2). Study 1 was conducted to test H1. Study 1 employed a 2 × 2 within-subjects design in which the first factor was the number of products (small (2) or large (5)), and the second factor was brand breadth (narrow or broad). We measured brand breadth as the perceived similarity among products associated with a brand. Participants provided the perceived fit and evaluations of an extended product. Study 2 was conducted to test H2 as well as to replicate Study 1 in a more general setting and with different products. It employed a 2 × 3 within-subjects design, in which the first factor was the number of products (small (2) or large (5)), and the second factor was brand breadth (narrow, broad, or very broad). The results from two experiments support both hypotheses. This paper contributes to the literature on brand extensions in two ways. First, it broadens our understanding of the effects of product number and brand breadth on extended product evaluations by considering the two factors jointly. Second, we believe this study to be the first to present evidence that brand breadth can exert an inverted U-shape effect on the perceived fit and evaluations of an extended product. The results also offer implications for marketers. First, marketers should heed the finding that adding similar products to a narrow brand does not help the brand's extension launch. Second, the finding that the relationship between brand breadth and extended product evaluations might not be linear provides practical implications. While a narrow brand should not keep launching close extensions, nor should a broad brand continue producing far extensions to broaden its breadth. A firm with a broad corporate or family brand might want to consider introducing a new brand instead of adding dissimilar products under the brand umbrella.

• 한국HCI학회논문지
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• 제11권1호
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• pp.47-55
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• 2016

삼차원 프린팅(이하 3D프린팅)은 현대인들에게 새로움과 흥미를 줄 뿐 아니라 새로운 산업혁명을 예고할 정도로 각광받는 기술이다. 또한 다양한 3D프린팅 서비스 플랫폼의 출현으로 개인들도 3D프린팅으로 디자인한 제품을 쉽게 소유할 수 있게 되었다. 그러나 3D프린팅이 대중화되는 시대, 3D프린팅으로 누구나 원하는 제품을 디자인해서 만들 수 있는 신제조시대가 오기까지는 아직 고려할 문제들이 많아 보인다. 예를 들어, 과연 현존하는 3D프린팅 서비스들이 기존에 기계나 사람이 제작하던 제품을 3D프린팅으로도 만들 수 있다는 것 이상을 보여줄 수 있는지, 현존하는 대다수의 3D프린팅 서비스 플랫폼들처럼 넓은 범위의 제품군을 판매하는 것이 소비자들에게 어떤 의미를 제공할 것인지 등에 대한 충분한 고려와 연구가 필요하다. 이런 맥락에서 시작한 본 연구는 소비자들로 하여금 제품군의 범위가 넓은 3D프린팅 온라인 서비스 플랫폼과 상대적으로 좁은 서비스를 직접 경험해보게 한 후, 구매희망 사이트, 디자인의 다양성, 디자인 만족도, 지각된 기술력, 지각된 구매만족, 지각된 애프터서비스(A/S)를 비교하고 선택형 질문과 서술형 질문에 응답하게 함으로써 향후 3D프린팅 서비스가 나아가야할 방향이 무엇인지에 대한 통찰을 얻고자 했다. 결과적으로 제품군의 범위가 넓은 서비스(예: Shapeways)에 대한 소비자들의 선호가 좁은 서비스(예: Digital Forming)에 대한 선호보다 전반적으로 강함을 관찰하였고, 디자인의 다양성과 원하는 디자인의 구현 가능성이 3D프린팅 서비스가 고려해야할 가장 중요한 요소임을 확인할 수 있었다. 더하여 향후 경쟁력 있는 3D프린팅 서비스가 되기 위해 다양한 분야의 디자이너풀을 확보를 통한 디자인 컨설팅을 진행, 초보자들도 쉽게 디자인할 수 있는 웹기반 소프트웨어 제공, 온-오프라인 매장 병행운영에 대해 논의하였다.