The effect of fit and authenticity on attitudes toward the brand extension: The case of the Monumental Complex of the Alhambra and Generalife

As a widely-used strategy among firms wishing to launch new products, brand extension has been the focus of numerous studies in recent years. However, very few works have focused on analysing brand extensions in the cultural context - that is, the use of a brand linked to cultural heritage as the parent brand from which to grow the extension. The present investigation is designed to shed light on this issue, taking the Monumental Complex of the Alhambra and Generalife (MCAG) as the parent brand for analysis. The work examines the effect of two factors, brand extension fit and brand extension authenticity, on attitudes toward the brand extension. A between-subjects experimental design was used: 2 (high vs. low degree of brand extension fit) × 3 (high, moderate, and low degree of brand extension authenticity). The results demonstrate that there is a transfer of positive effect from the MCAG parent brand to the brand extension, and that the greater the degree of the extension's authenticity relative to the Monumental Complex, the stronger this transfer.