Empirical generalizations from brand extension research: How sure are we?

Bottomley and Holden [Bottomley, P.A., and Holden, S.J.S. (2001). Do we really know how consumers evaluate brand extensions? Empirical generalizations based on secondary analysis of eight studies. Journal of Marketing Research, 38, 494–500.] conducted a secondary analysis of Aaker and Keller's [Aaker, D.A., and Keller, K.L. (1990). Consumer evaluations of brand extensions. Journal of Marketing, 54, 27–41.] seminal brand extension study and seven other close replications, generated several empirical generalizations, and hence called for a revision of the extant understanding of brand extension evaluations. We re-examine Bottomley and Holden's conclusions. We prove analytically that the simple effects estimated by B&H are incorrect, thereby rendering some of their generalizations suspect. We re-analyze the same data using appropriate statistical techniques, and our new results clarify the understanding of how consumers indeed evaluate extensions. Specifically, we find that, although the simple effects of neither parent brand quality nor measures of fit affect evaluations of brand extensions, the interaction effects of parent brand quality with fit are important determinants of brand extension evaluations. We discuss the substantive implications of our findings and offer directions for future research.