Pre-test

A pretest is conducted to ensure that the composed stimuli of the two fit conditions (high fit vs. low fit) and the two extension strategy conditions (existing line vs. green line extension) are correctly perceived by the respondents. The participants for the pre-test were derived from convenience sampling. In this pre-test, respondents were randomly assigned to one of two conditions. These conditions with their stimuli are mentioned in table 4.

The first condition was the "high fit" condition, in which respondents were exposed to an introductory text of a fashion brand that was formulated to be perceived as a high fit between that parent brand image and a green brand extension. Afterward, they were exposed to two advertisements, along with a small introduction text as well, where one ad responded to the

existing line of that high fit fashion company and the other ad responded to the green line extension of that high fit fashion company. The second condition was the low fit condition, in which respondents were exposed to an introductory text of a fashion brand that was formulated to be perceived as a low fit between that parent brand image and a green brand extension.

Afterward, they were exposed to the same ad stimuli as in the high fit condition, where one ad responded to the existing line of that high fit fashion company, and one ad responded to the green line extension of that high fit fashion company.

The reason for choosing to work with conditions in this pre-test is that the stimuli of the brand extension strategy used in high fit and low fit were the same: the advertisements of the green line extensions and the existing line were the same for the high and low fit condition, as seen in table 4. This means that if respondents of the pre-test had been exposed to all conditions’ stimuli, they would have seen that the advertisements in both fit conditions were the exact same, which could lead to confusion of respondents and bias (Keller & Aaker, 1992).

Therefore, the pre-test was divided into two groups: one group that was exposed to the low-fit stimuli, along with the two extension strategy advertisements; and the other group that was exposed to the high-fit stimuli, followed by the two extension strategy advertisements. The stimuli of the two groups are presented in table 4.

Table 4. Conditions and stimuli of the pre-test.

Condition 1: low fit Introduction text:

T&Z is a multinational clothing brand. T&Z’s collections respond to the newest fashion trends and their clothing is low priced and has low quality. T&Z focuses on young consumers that want to get along with the trend of that moment.

Existing line Green line extension

To respond to the demands of consumers to get along with the latest trends of that time, T&Z manages to offer a new clothing collection every two weeks. By focusing on these temporary trends, T&Z stimulates consumers to keep buying new clothing that is trending at that particular moment.

Please examine the advertisement for T&Z's existing clothing line.

The multinational is criticized for its non-sustainable business efforts, such as low wages in factories, high numbers of pollution and waste, and their stimulation of over-consumption, by offering various new collections throughout the year. To respond to this criticism, T&Z has come up with a plan to launch a sustainable clothing line, as an addition to their existing clothing line, where the company makes use of organic cotton.

Please examine the advertisement for T&Z's new sustainable clothing line.

Condition 2: high fit Introduction text:

T&Z is a multinational company that sells comfortable, premium-quality clothing. The lifecycle of the clothing that T&Z produces is long, due to the enhanced quality and the more basic clothing that they are selling, which is a major pro for the process of decreasing overconsumption and fashion waste.

Existing line Green line extension

T&Z offers only four collections each year: one collection per season. This number of new

collections is much lower in comparison with other companies.

Other companies mainly respond to contemporary trends and therefore offer new collections every two weeks. In contrast, T&Z focuses on sustained trends that do not change that often.

Please examine the advertisement for T&Z's existing clothing line.

In comparison with other companies that focus on temporary trends, T&Z focuses on sustained fashion trends and therefore offers only 4 collections each year.

To respond to the urgent matter of becoming more sustainable throughout T&Z’s business efforts, T&Z decided to launch a sustainable clothing line, as an addition to their existing clothing line, where they make use of organic cotton.

Please examine the advertisement for T&Z's new sustainable clothing line.

When zooming in on the low fit condition (N = 11), two advertisements were shown that belonged to each of the two brand extension strategies (existing line vs. green line extension). After reading the ‘low fit’ introduction and being exposed to the two advertisements for the non-existent brand, respondents had to indicate to what extent they agree with the two proposed statements, by the use of a 7-point Likert scale (I completely disagree; I completely

existing line and to the extension line of the fictitious brand. The pretest pointed out that the respondents agreed that the ad for the existing line was indeed linked to the existing line (M = 6.18, SD = 0.41) and the ad for the extension line was linked to the green line extension (M = 5.91, SD = 0.53).

For the high fit condition (N = 12), the same pre-test was conducted, with a different introduction text for the fictious high-fit brand, but the same advertisements were used that reflect the two brand extension strategies. This pretest pointed out that the respondents linked the existing line poster of the high fit condition to the existing line (M = 5.50, SD = 1.57). The extension poster was linked to the green line extension of the non-existent brand (M = 6.00, SD = 1.13).

An independent sample t-test is conducted to see if the two fit conditions (high vs. low) significantly differ from each other. This potential difference is measured by considering the two different introduction texts at the beginning of each condition. Here, the respondents had to indicate to what extent they agreed with the following statement: “The sustainable line extension matches with T&Z's described brand image” by making use of the same 7-point Likert scale. The brand that was described as a low fit between the green brand extension and parent brand image was perceived as lower: (M = 3.00, SD = 0.43) in comparison with the introduction text that was described as a high fit (M = 5.25, SD =1.66). Moreover, there was a significant difference in scores for low and high fit: t(21) = -3.49, p = 0.002. The stimuli of the brand extension strategy, in both conditions and the fit conditions, are perceived by the respondents as to how it was meant by the researcher. Therefore, these stimuli can be incorporated into the 4 conditions of this experiment.