소비자의 인지욕구 수준이 브랜드 확장의 평가에 미치는 영향: 서브 브랜드 확장 vs. 직접 브랜드 확장

A brand is a premium. Consumers give the favorable brand the added value of the intangible symbol in addition to the value of tangibility. As a premium, the real value of the product increases. Many of contemporary companies focus on improving their brand equity in the revenue-oriented growth as they seek to improve the value of products through premium products. The market-respected brand uses its strength to extend new domains. Successful brand extension enhances a parent brand’s centrifugal and centripetal force. Wrong brand extension, however, can negatively damage their parent brands as well as expanded products. Sub-branding is being performed to prevent this. This study looked at which types of brand extension are more positive, depending on the level of consumers’ need for cognition (NFC). Consumers with a lower NFC were more likely to extend their brands directly than to extend their sub-brand. However, consumers with higher NFC were more favorable to extension of the sub-brand than to extension of the direct-brand. Sub-branding is expected to have a mechanism of risk avoidance, making it more suitable for consumers with higher NFC. There are many studies of brand extension. However, not many studies have compared direct brand and sub-brand extension. The results of this study have practical implications for what brand extension strategies should be pursued from a corporate practice standpoint.