Green brand extensions of fast fashion companies: a step towards sustainability or a greenwashing attempt?
Name student: Floor Wiersma Student number: 11835257
Course: Master’s Thesis Digital Marketing
Programme: MSc Business Administration (track: Digital Marketing) Thesis Supervisor: Bernadette van Ewijk
EBEC approval number 20220601010612 Date: 24 June 2022 Wordcount: 20,591
Statement of originality
This document is written by student Floor Wiersma, who declares to take full responsibility for the contents of this document.
I declare that the text and the work presented in this document are original and that no
sources other than those mentioned in the text and its references have been used in creating it.
The Faculty of Economics and Business is responsible solely for the supervision of the completion of the work, not for its content.
TABLE OF CONTENTS
LIST OF TABLES ... 4
LIST OF GRAPHS ... 4
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS ... 6
ABSTRACT ... 7
1. INTRODUCTION ... 8
2. THEORETICAL FRAMEWORK ... 12
2.1 The fast fashion industry ... 12
2.2 Green brand extensions as corporate responsibility management ... 15
2.3 Parent brand evaluation ... 18
2.4 Fit between parent brand image and green brand extension strategy ... 19
2.5 Environmental involvement of consumers in evaluation processes ... 23
3. CONCEPTUAL FRAMEWORK ... 27
3.1 Direct effect ... 27
3.1.1 Brand extension strategy ... 27
3.2 Moderating effects ... 29
3.2.1 Fit ... 29
3.2.2 Environmental involvement ... 29
3.3 Conceptual model ... 32
4. METHODOLOGY ... 32
4.1 Data collection ... 32
4.2 Constructs ... 34
4.3 Pre-test ... 35
4.4 Procedure ... 40
5. ANALYSIS AND RESULTS ... 41
5.1 Reliability and factor analysis ... 41
5.2 Sample statistics ... 42
5.3 Empirical findings ... 43
5.3.1 results ... 46
5.3.2 Hypotheses testing ... 47
5.3.3 Other empirical findings ... 54
5.3.4 Additional analysis ... 57
6. DISCUSSION ... 57
6.1 Conclusion ... 57
6.2 Limitations and future research ... 59
6.3 Theoretical and managerial takeaways ... 62
7. REFERENCES ... 65
8. APPENDICES ... 76
Appendix A: Introduction text in survey and pretest ... 76
Appendix B: Conditions and stimulus material survey ... 77
Appendix C: Questionnaire survey ... 79
Appendix D: Test of Normality ... 81
Appendix E: Descriptive tables of respondents’ characteristics per condition. ... 84
LIST OF TABLES
Table 1. Influence of fit on the evaluation of parent brand or extension.
Table 2. Environmental involvement as a predictor of the success of companies’ greening activities.
Table 3. Latent constructs and their items.
Table 4. Conditions and stimuli of the pre-test.
Table 5. Schematic overview of characteristics per condition.
Table 6. Reliability and Factor analysis.
Table 7. Overall means, standard deviations, and correlations of Thesis Variables.
Table 8. Summary of models of regression analysis for parent brand evaluation.
Table 9. Model 3 Coefficients output linear hierarchical regression model.
Table 10. Values of predictor variables.
Table 11. Main hypotheses in this study.
Table 12. Normality-check of scale constructs.
Table 13. Number of respondents per condition.
Table 14. Distribution of gender per condition.
Figure 15. Distribution of age per condition.
LIST OF GRAPHS
Graph 1. Distribution of age groups in sample.
Graph 2. Distribution of educational degree in sample
Graph 3. Brand extension strategy's effect on parent brand evaluation.
Graph 4. Graphic image of parent brand evaluation, based on strategy and fit.
Graph 5. Low fit conditions - influence of environmental involvement on PBE.
Graph 6. High fit conditions - influence of environmental involvement on PBE.
Graph 7. The direct effect of environmental involvement on parent brand evaluation.
Graph 8. The effect of environmental involvement and fit on parent brand evaluation.
Graph 9. Linearity assumption P-plot.
Graph 10. Normal distribution assumption plot.
Graph 11. Scatter-dot analysis for the assumption of homogeneity.
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
This Master’s thesis is the final assignment of the Master’s programme in Business Administration (track: digital marketing) at the University of Amsterdam. In this thesis research, I strive to examine potential boundary conditions of green brand extensions in the clothing industry, more particularly: the fast fashion industry.
I wrote this thesis with the assistance of a few people whom I would like to acknowledge. First and foremost, I would like to express my gratitude to my supervisor Bernadette van Ewijk for instilling in me the confidence and assurance that I would succeed, even though I began writing this thesis late, and for providing a very pleasant working environment in which we went through this process together and at a rapid pace of communication.
Moreover, I would like to thank my parents, who helped me enormously by providing the respondents that I needed to perform my research. Besides, I would like to express my appreciation to all the respondents that took part in my research. This thesis would not have been completed without them. And lastly, I would like to thank the second reader of my thesis for taking the time to read this study.
ABSTRACT
To respond to consumers’ desire to become more environmentally sustainable, brands in the fast fashion industry have introduced sustainable clothing lines alongside their existing clothing lines. These lines function as the brands’ first attempts to become more environmentally sustainable and, with that, contribute to the trend of responsible consumerism. However, not all consumers are that excited about these green line extensions of fast fashion companies.
While some consumers see these extensions as a step for companies toward becoming a more environmentally sustainable, others see these extensions as a greenwashing attempt because of the idea that their core business activities remain non-green. Therefore, this research aimed to explore the boundary conditions of green brand extension success by considering the fit between the brand’s image and the green brand extension, and the consumers’ environmental involvement. It was examined whether the environmental involvement of consumers (high vs.
low) moderates the moderating effect of fit (high vs. low) on the parent brand evaluation when introducing green line extensions (vs. existing lines). After performing regression analysis, no effects were found to be significant for this three-way interaction effect. However, several implications and recommendations for future research are provided. More research is needed to underpin the dual effects of environmental involvement and fit on parent brand evaluation in green brand extension success.
Keywords: fast fashion industry, green line extension, environmental involvement.
1. INTRODUCTION
Brands often use their brand names to access new markets (Reddy, et al., 1994). These so- called brand extensions are widely examined to predict their success (Dall’Olmo et al., 2013;
Dwivedi et al., 2009; Martínez & de Chernatony, 2004; Reddy et al., 1994). However, 80–90%
of all brand extensions still seem to fail (Duckle, 2018). Besides, back in 2019, responsible consumerism was already seen as one of the six global trends by the business magazine Forbes (Danziger, 2019). Therefore, it is becoming increasingly important for established businesses to adapt to the consumers’ demand to reduce its carbon footprint and, as a result, attract a new market of prospective customers: users of rival brands or non-users in this category (Chatterjee, 2009). Especially the fashion industry must respond to this matter since it is accused of being one of the most polluting industries in the world, consuming the most water, and is frequently linked to workplace abuses. (Fletcher, 2014; Jacometti, 2019; Thorisdottir & Johannsdottir, 2019).
The fashion industry can be categorized in a few sub-industries. One of these sub- industries is the fast fashion industry. Fast fashion clothing can be explained as “disposable clothing at low prices” (Jacometti, 2019, p. 1). Due to its low price and low-quality products, along with a large number of clothing collections that are offered many times throughout the year, consumers have begun to see their clothing as "disposable" and throw it away more often after one season of using the clothing (Jacometti, 2019). This overconsumption shortens the lifecycle of a single product. Therefore, this sub-industry is called the fast fashion industry. As opposed to fast fashion, the slow fashion industry can be characterized by slowing down the product lifecycle of clothing by enhancing the quality and making more basic ‘everyday-wear’
clothing instead of responding to emerging temporary trends (Fletcher, 2010). Moreover, slow fashion enables the environment and the people in that environment to co-exist in a healthier
way by reducing the pollution and waste that comes from the production process and allowing time for the environment to regenerate (Jung & Jin, 2016).
To respond to this emerging desire to become more environmentally sustainable, fast fashion companies, like H&M, have launched their "Conscious Exclusive" clothing lines as an addition to their regular clothing lines to take a step toward becoming more environmentally sustainable. When H&M introduced this sustainable clothing line on Instagram in October 2020, many consumers reacted positively to this advertisement video, with reactions such as
“this is the future”, “this is so cool”, and mostly heart emojis and applause emojis (H&M [hm], 2020).
Whereas some consumers see the sustainable line extension of fast-fashion companies as a positive contribution toward environmental sustainability (Chatterjee, 2009; Kim & Ma, 2014), the effect may backfire as well if these consumers do not believe that a fast-fashion company is able to become more environmentally sustainable with this new sustainable clothing line, as their core industry is still fast fashion, and, therefore, will continue with polluting the environment (Grimm & Malschinger, 2021; Hesse et al., 2022; Kim & Hall, 2015;
Majid & Russell, 2015). This negative evaluation of the parent brand, based on the green line extension was seen in the H&M example as well: “fast fashion pretending to be eco-friendly?
nice” (H&M [hm], 2020), “fashion this fast will never be sustainable” (H&M [hm], 2020), or
“This is literally the definition of performative activism. You have not paid your garment workers since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic and then you pretend you are an ethical company. @hm it’s time to #payyourworkers #payup” (H&M [hm], 2020).
What could be the reason for this fragmented response of consumers to the evaluation of green line extensions of fast fashion companies? As prior research has shown (Aaker, 1990;
Dall’Olmo et al., 2013; Dwivedi et al., 2009; Martínez & de Chernatony, 2004; Reddy et al., 1994; Smith & Park, 1992), one of the key determinants to predict brand extension success is
the "fit" between the extension and the brand itself, as perceived by consumers. Despite the high level of category fit between the existing product line and the green line extension, the green line extension’s fit with the parent brand was rated poorly by some consumers. The green line extension was evaluated negatively based on the fit between the extension product and the company’s brand image, the image fit. Therefore, the fit between a green line extension and the brand image of a fast fashion company explains the evaluation of this green line extension (Aaker, 1990; Dall’Olmo et al., 2013; Dwivedi et al., 2009; Martínez & de Chernatony, 2004;
Reddy et al., 1994; Smith & Park, 1992).
Companies responding to the urgent need to become more sustainable by introducing a green clothing line, alongside their existing line, is a positive development, as many consumers respond positively to this line, which was proven by the many positive reactions on the afore- mentioned Instagram post. In fact, consumers that are not that into environmental sustainability will see any sustainable improvement as a good development (Kim & Hall, 2015), since nothing is wrong with introducing a clothing line that is more sustainable, right?
However, companies must also be careful with incorporating green line extensions because “poor evaluations of these extensions may dilute and deteriorate the core brand, thus damaging the core brand’s equity” (Chatterjee, 2009, p. 368), as well as due to the high levels of skepticism among consumers about firms’ "greenwashing" efforts (Chatterjee, 2009; Hill &
Lee, 2015; Yan, 2003). As Ramaniah (2022) describes in her blog post, she criticizes the H&M Conscious Exclusive collection: “What H&M is doing is greenwashing to distance itself from its role in damaging the environment. H&M is a fast fashion brand, and fast fashion products are unsustainable”. It is interesting to see if consumers’ skepticism of fast fashion companies' sustainable activities is a result of consumers' environmental concern. Moreover, it is interesting to see if the environmental concern moderates the effect of image fit on the introduction of a green line extension and the parent brand evaluation, since low
environmentally involved consumers see the introduction of sustainable products as something good, despite the low fit between the green extension and the parent brand image (Kim & Hall, 2015).
This study contributes to the scientific literature since it is going to examine whether environmental involvement (high vs. low) has a moderating effect on the fit (high vs. low), which moderates the effect of green brand extension (vs. existing line) on the parent brand evaluation. This three-way interaction effect has not been analyzed before. Moreover, it is interesting to see if generations differ in their environmental concern level, as this would “build on the knowledge of consumers' fast fashion perceptions” (Hill & Lee, 2015, p. 218). Besides, by controlling for age within this research, the study will account for potential biases that can directly impact the parent brand evaluation, regardless of the fit.
From a managerial perspective, it is important to know on whom marketing managers must focus when advertising for a green line extension because not all consumers evaluate this extension the same way, as seen in the comments section of the Instagram post by H&M.
Besides, if the fit between the parent brand and the extension is low, marketing managers must find a way to make this fit more sustained to reach out to consumers who currently see this brand extension as something negative. Therefore, this study will manipulate two fit categories (high vs. low) to examine potential differences and to see how companies can leverage these differences.
This study will provide a better understanding of how the fast fashion industry can integrate sustainability practices into its business models to respond to the emerging need to implement corporate social responsibility activities within these established firms. This paper will measure the importance of different metrics that potentially influence the relationship between green line extensions and their parent brand evaluations by making use of regression models and using data from convenience sampling. This paper will begin by composing a
theoretical framework, which will be used to examine existing literature. Following that, the conceptual model with proposed hypotheses, as well as the method, analysis, and discussion sections will be presented.
2. THEORETICAL FRAMEWORK
2.1 The fast fashion industry
The fast fashion industry identifies itself by providing the newest fashion trends for the lowest price. The clothing of the fast fashion conglomerates is seen as "disposable," based on the short product life cycle of these products (Jacometti, 2019). The lifecycle of apparel products provided by fast fashion companies is short due to the low quality of clothing and, mostly, because of their response to temporary trends (Bhardwaj & Fairhurst, 2010).
Moreover, due to the demands of consumers to respond to the latest trends along with the highly competitive fast fashion market, companies try to stay ahead of the competition and demands of consumers by constantly refreshing their product ranges and providing numerous new collections throughout the year (Bhardwaj & Fairhurst, 2010). Because of this fast pace of refreshing product ranges, consumers began to visit the fast fashion shops more often because of the idea of “Here Today, Gone Tomorrow” (Bhardwaj & Fairhurst, 2010, p. 166). The newest styles being introduced in recent clothing collections that are in line with the trends of the moment stimulate consumers’ idea to buy something new every time a new collection is provided (Kim & Hall, 2015).
In 2018, the fashion industry was responsible for approximately 2.1 billion tons of greenhouse-gas (GHG) emissions, which is 4 percent of the total global GHG emissions (Berg et al., 2020). Fast fashion was responsible for half of all emissions generated by the fashion industry, which is the reason why this specific industry is often criticized for their non- sustainable practices. Following several exposés and controversial issues about the
environmental impact of fast fashion in the early 2010s, fast fashion leaders incorporated different sustainability efforts and tried to claim to be more environmentally acceptable.
However, closer analyses of these initiatives concluded that they were limited and insufficient to reduce the impact of fast fashion on the climate (Wren, 2022).
The fast fashion industry wants to respond to this negative publicity and the emerging trend of becoming more environmentally sustainable by introducing sustainable clothing lines in addition to their existing non-sustainable clothing lines. However, brands that have a non- green brand image, like fast fashion companies, must be careful with incorporating green practices into their business efforts. Customers may interpret these greening initiatives as an intention to make use of these green brand extensions to upgrade their non-green parent brand image (Hesse et al., 2022; Grimm & Malschinger, 2021). This effect can be explained by the idea of intrinsic and extrinsic motives to perform corporate social responsibility implementation among firms (Du, et al., 2010). Corporate social responsibility is described as
“open and transparent business practices that are based on ethical values and respect for employees, communities, and the environment. It is designed to deliver sustainable value to society at large, as well as to shareholders” (Du et al., 2010, p. 182), by the Forum of International Business Leaders1. Stronger attributions of intrinsic motivations of CSR result into more positive inferences about the company’s character by stakeholders, whereas stronger attributions of extrinsic motivations of CSR lead to less favorable attitudes of stakeholders to the company (Du, et al., 2010; Yoon et al., 2006). The outcome of the firms’ intrinsic and extrinsic motivations to perform CSR activities reflects the fact that CSR activities must be integrated into the core values of the company to be perceived as a legitimate step to becoming
1 “IBLF Global is an independent not-for-profit organisation with the mission to promote economic development in emerging markets by engaging with business in practical collective action projects to raise business standards and help create a culture of integrity” (IBLF, retrieved from https://www.iblfglobal.org/ on
more environmentally sustainable, when advertising these greening initiatives. If not, this greening advertising can be perceived as a greenwashing attempt (Yoon et al., 2006).
This finding of Du et al. (2010) is in line with the research outcomes of Arrigo (2013).
In his work he concludes that “CSR decisions must be coherent to corporate values and positioning so that consumers are able to identify with them” (Arrigo, 2013, p. 178). If customers cannot relate the green brand extension's pro-environmental attributes to the brand's non-greenness, they may perceive it as greenwashing (Hesse et al., 2022). Greenwashing is defined as a type of deception used by businesses to portray themselves as environmentally conscious (Laufer, 2003). With greenwashing, companies tend to overclaim their sustainability efforts. This evokes negative publicity as well as criticism from consumers, which has a negative impact on the parent brand name and is extremely hurtful to the brand image of that criticized company (Laufer, 2003).
To diminish this risk of being perceived as a greenwashing company, firms need to implement corporate socially responsible activities throughout their entire value chain activities (Pomering & Johnson, 2009). If a central socially responsible strategy is implemented in the company and communicated to the consumers, the consumers perceive the green line extension as more fitting due to its enhanced long-term commitment (Albert & Whetten, 1985;
Pirsch et al., 2006). This way, the introduction of embedded CSR activities from within the firm will potentially diminish the risk of these activities being perceived as greenwashing attempts. Besides with the introduction of a green line extension, fast fashion companies must develop a structured CSR strategy to mitigate the contradicting nature of the green brand extension and their non-green core business practices.
This conclusion is in line with the findings of Wren (2022) when she examined the sustainable supply chain management (SSCM) of the fast fashion brand H&M and compared these business activities with the slow fashion brand called Everlane. She mentions that fast
fashion brands “must shift their focus from short‐term fixes, such as “conscious collections”, to investing in long‐term energy and processing infrastructure (p. 10)”. Wren (2022) concludes in her paper that the necessity to reduce the environmental impact of the complete supply chain of fast fashion companies should result into an eco-friendlier industry. To accomplish this, effective SSCM is needed. This strategy will implement sustainable policies throughout all operations within the supply chain of that fast fashion company. This way, the link between a sustainable clothing line will make more sense and, therefore, result in a lower chance of it being perceived as a greenwashing attempt.
2.2 Green brand extensions as corporate responsibility management
Brand extensions can be defined as the use of the brand name in the expansion of the company to either another product line or another product category (Müge Arslan & Korkut Altuna, 2010). A brand extension strategy implementation is more cost-effective and comes with less risk, in comparison with launching an entirely new brand that is focused on sustainable clothing because these entities capitalize on their own well-known brand names (Aaker & Keller, 1990;
Smith & Park, 1992; Tauber, 1981). An example of a brand extending to another product line is fast fashion brand H&M, which introduced a ‘Mom line’, which is a clothing line focused on pregnancy clothing. An example of a brand extending to another product category is when H&M introduced H&M Home shops, where consumers can buy anything that is home related.
This study focuses on a fast fashion retailer that wants to extend its current clothing line with a green clothing line. The company stays within the same category as its original product line, which is clothing. Therefore, the extension to a green clothing line can be seen as a product line extension.
When choosing to extend your existing line with another line, a risk that needs to be taken into consideration is the cannibalization of product sales of the existing line (Chatterjee,
2009; Hsu et al., 2015; Mason & Milne, 1994). In comparison with a category extension, a line extension offers the same products and, therefore, can lead to a decrease in the number of consumers that purchase the existing line products. These consumers are now purchasing extended line products. The cannibalization risk is less for category extensions since another product category is being offered. That way, the extension product does not “steal” the consumers that were previously interested in the existing product, because the extended product is not an alternative to the existing product.
Brands use their brand names to access new markets (Reddy et al., 1994). To do so, the brand must first focus on creating brand equity to make use of its brand name. Brand equity is defined as “a set of brand assets and liabilities linked to a brand, its name, and symbol that add to or subtract from the value provided by a product or service to a firm and/or to that firm’s customers” (Aaker, 1990, p. 27). The equity of the brand must be clearly defined to determine the basis for potential growth when analyzing the brand extension potential because there is a transfer of equity from the parent brand towards the brand extension whenever a brand extension is launched (Bhat & Reddy, 2001; Czellar, 2003; Dwivedi et al., 2009; Sheinin, 1998).
The Categorization Theory can explain this effect, which suggests that “individuals place objects in different categories to understand and process these objects accurately” (Ma et al., 2014, p. 2). Following this theory, the proposed brand is already categorized in the mind of the consumer. If an extension product of this brand is launched, consumers will match this brand extension with the evoked category description of the brand and generalize this parent brand equity with the extension product (Dwivedi et al., 2009). This means that the brand equity of the parent brand will be transferred to the brand extension if the category of the extension is perceived as fitting with the category of the parent brand.
When zooming in on this study, fast fashion brands must respond to the demands from consumers and the pressure from competitors to provide the newest trends in-store, whereas these companies also want to respond to the responsible consumerism trend to become more environmentally sustainable (Bhardwaj & Fairhurst, 2010; Danziger, 2019). Fashion firms face a difficult task in integrating and aligning these two seemingly opposing business methods.
Fashion firms must preserve their strong image and profitability while also demonstrating their concern for people and the environment (Kim & Hall, 2015). Kim and Hall (2015) concluded that establishing a green strategy requires cultivating an image of sincerity and a desire to “do the right thing”.
Among the many green marketing efforts, the introduction of an environmentally friendly new or updated product has become increasingly popular (Bonini & Oppenheim, 2008;
Hesse et al., 2022; Olsen et al., 2014). However, as prior research has shown, consumers may question the corporation's motivations for such efforts, which can have either a beneficial or damaging impact on the brand image (Groza et al., 2011; Kim & Hall, 2015). Previous literature pointed out that because of the firm’s non-green existing line, which will always be visible in terms of launching a sustainable line extension, as opposed to introducing a new sustainable brand, consumers will have a hard time connecting the pro-environmental business efforts with the firm’s essentially no-green core identity (Grimm & Malschinger, 2021; Hesse et al., 2022; Majid & Russell, 2015). This can lead to a negative image shift and suspicions of greenwashing attempts. This means that companies that are known for their non-sustainable business efforts should make structural changes to combat the idea of being assaulted for greenwashing when advertising for their greening activities.
2.3 Parent brand evaluation
When considering previous research on brand extension success, the evaluation of the extended product or the parent brand is frequently used as an outcome variable (Bhat & Reddy, 2001;
Chun et al., 2015; Dwivedi et al., 2009; Hesse et al., 2022; Kim & John, 2008; Martínez & de Chernatony, 2004). The choice to use the extended product evaluation as an outcome variable can be explained by the urgency to know if the extension product itself is perceived positively by the consumers. However, this research aims to explore if the introduction of a brand extension has an influence on the evaluation of the brand itself since the potential differences in feedback effects on the image of the parent brand, elicited by these green brand extensions, are considered.
The feedback effects of brand extensions can be described as “the reciprocal impact of the extension on the parent brand, which can be either positive or negative” (Dwivedi et al., 2009, p. 329). A positive feedback effect is triggered whenever a brand extension is introduced, which has a high fit between the parent brand and its extension. This brand extension will have a positive influence on the parent brand’s image, due to this high fit (Bhat & Reddy, 2001;
Dwivedi, et al., 2009; Sheinin, 1998). However, a negative feedback effect is elicited by a low fit between the extension and the parent brand, which will lead to a more negative parent brand evaluation (Bhat & Reddy, 2001; Dwivedi, et al., 2009; Sheinin, 1998). This feedback effect can be seen as the consequence of the Categorization Theory (Ma et al., 2015) which was earlier mentioned. If the fit between the brand’s category and the extension category is perceived to be low, the brand will be evaluated more negatively, and vice versa. To examine these differences of feedback effects, elicited by the introduction of a green brand extension (vs.
existing line) in more detail, this study has chosen to integrate parent brand evaluation as the outcome variable of this research.
2.4 Fit between parent brand image and green brand extension strategy
The extent to which the product line extension has a positive influence on the extension’s evaluation of consumers is influenced by the fit between the brand and its extension (Aaker, 1990; Dall’Olmo et al., 2013; Dwivedi et al., 2009; Martínez & de Chernatony, 2004; Reddy et al., 1994; Smith & Park, 1992). The fit between a brand and its brand extension is determined by the consumer.
The fit can be measured on two levels (Bhat & Reddy, 2001; Martínez Salinas & Pina Pérez, 2009; Park et al., 1991). The most common way to measure the fit is to compare the category of the parent brand with the category of its extension and see if the two are the same.
This method, again, translates back to the afore-mentioned Categorization Theory. If the category of the existing product and the extended product is the same, the fit can be perceived as high. When zooming in on the H&M example, the category fit of the existing product and of the extension product is high because they share the same category: clothing. Therefore, you could say that the fit is perceived as high, which has a positive impact on the brand extension evaluation or enhancement of the core brand’s overall image, as prior research has shown (Batra et al., 2010; DelVecchio & Smith, 2005; Dens & de Pelsmacker, 2009; Goedertier et al., 2015)
However, the positive effect of the perceived fit on the brand extension evaluation or the core brand’s image is not always sustained, based on the categorial fit. Regardless of the high category fit between the existing line and the green line extension, some consumers still reacted negatively to H&M’s green line extension on social media. Another measurement of fit was taken under consideration when measuring the fit between the existing line and the extension line; the fit between the extension product and the image of the parent brand, which is referred to as the image fit (Aaker, 1990; Dall’Olmo et al., 2013; Dwivedi et al., 2009;
Martínez & de Chernatony, 2004; Reddy et al., 1994; Smith & Park, 1992). The image fit
“refers to consumers’ perceptions of the similarity of the extension’s initial image with that of the parent brand” (Bhat & Reddy, 2001, p. 114). Moreover, consumers will accept the extension product(s) and value it as a high fit with the parent brand if this extension is logical and expected from the parent brand, and thereby, matches with the parent brand’s image (Tauber, 1981). This explains the discrepancy in the responses to fit. Regardless of the category fit between the existing products and the extension products, the fit between the extension product and the parent brand’s image must be considered to portray an all-encompassing fit perception. Since the category fit cannot influence the effect on the parent brand image because the category of the existing line and the extension product line in the H&M example is the same, the image fit will be considered in this research.
A double return will be ensured if the extension is seen as a high fit with the parent brand: the brand extension will be accepted and this will lead to a contribution to the enhancement of the overall brand equity, which can be seen as a positive feedback effect (Dwivedi et al., 2009). This explains how a high fit between the parent brand and its extension plays an important role when predicting brand extension success. Due to this central importance of fit, all decisions regarding the brand extension must focus on the link with the parent brand’s core values (Dwivedi, et al., 2009).
Nevertheless, the risk of a bad fit between the parent brand and its extension can have crucial consequences for the parent brand. A dilution effect occurs if beliefs associated with the parent brand are not in line with the attributes of the extension (Loken & John, 1993). This inconsistency can seriously harm the parent brand’s equity, which can be seen as a negative feedback effect. Toothpaste brand Colgate is an example where the extension failed, based on the low perceived fit between the extension product and the parent brand’s core products. In 1982, toothpaste brand Colgate made an effort to expand to the food industry with Colgate Kitchen Entrees, which were prepped frozen meals (Ling, 2021). However, the association of
Colgate’s core product, toothpaste, was not well aligned with the extension product category, which was food. Therefore, the extension toward the food industry turned out to be a disaster for Colgate (Haynes, 2020). That is why the fit must always be taken into consideration by firms that want to extend their brand with new product lines.
As seen in Table 1, different studies are presented that took two levels of fit (high vs.
low) into account when doing research on brand extensions. In these studies, the main effect of fit on brand or extension evaluations was simple: in the high fit conditions, the consumers evaluated the extension product or the parent brand higher in comparison with the low fit condition (Buil et al., 2009; Chun et al., 2015; Kim & John, 2008; Martínez Salinas & Pina Pérez, 2009; Prados-Peña & del Barrio-García, 2020). More interestingly, Bhat and Reddy (2001) found that the categorical fit between an extension product and the initial product line does not significantly affect the parent brand evaluation, but the image fit does. Again, this explains the importance of brand image fit (vs. category fit) when taking brand extension research into consideration.
As seen in table 1, the reputation of the brand has a moderating effect on the fit conditions that work best for the company: when a brand has a strong reputation, a low fit extension will result in a more positive brand evaluation in comparison with a high fit, whereas a weak brand reputation with a high fit extension results in a higher brand evaluation in comparison with a low fit (Chun et al., 2015). Chun et al. (2015) elaborate on this effect by the idea of trust that the brand is able to deliver the benefits of that product as promised. Strong reputation brands have on average a higher level of trust than weak reputation brands, and therefore, can deliver more innovative products that do not necessarily fit with the brand image of the parent brand. But due to the higher trust in that brand, they are accepted. Weak reputation brands have a lower level of trust and therefore create a higher brand evaluation when making use of high fit (vs. low fit) extensions that deliver ordinary benefits (vs. innovative benefits).
Table 1. Influence of fit on the evaluation of parent brand or extension.
Article Independent variable Dependent variable Moderation Conclusion Chun et al. (2015) fit (high vs. low) brand extension
evaluations + positive spill-over effect
brand reputation (strong vs. weak)
“When brand reputation is strong, the dual effects of positive brand extension evaluations and positive spillover effects on the parent brand are maximized when the brand offers a low fit extension with innovative benefits. In contrast, a weak reputation brand's extensions are evaluated more favorably and positive spillover effects are greatest when a high fit extension offers innovative benefits” (p. 589)
Martínez Salinas and Pina
Pérez (2009) brand image extension attitude fit (high vs. low) “If the extension has a low fit, there will be a negative effect on the attitude toward the brand, regardless of the attitude toward the extension” (p. 58).
Kim and John (2008) fit (high vs. moderate) brand extension
evaluation construal level (high
vs. low) “Results from three studies confirm that consumers who construe their environment at a higher level place more importance on perceived extension fit in evaluating brand extensions. These consumers evaluate high fit extensions more favorably than moderate fit extensions” (p. 116).
Bhat and Reddy (2001) parent brand attributes brand extension
evaluation fit (categorical vs.
brand image) “Similarity between the product categories of the parent brand and the extension was not found to influence how consumers view an extension, whereas the fit between the images of the parent brand and the extension was generally more influential” (p. 120).
Prados-Peña and del
Barrio-García (2020) parent brand preference brand extensions loyalty fit (high vs. low) Thus, when the fit between the product category and its brand extension is high, the effects of attitude and image on brand extension loyalty are significantly greater than in the case of a low degree of fit”
Buil et al. (2009) fit (high vs. low) consumers’ perceived
brand extension attitude - “Thus, the evaluation of brand extensions is more favourable in conditions of high fit extensions than for low fit extensions”
(p.1312).
2.5 Environmental involvement of consumers in evaluation processes
Responsible consumerism can be seen as a consumer who is interested in brands and companies that help to let them make more responsible choices (Kim & Oh, 2020). The driver of responsible consumerism is the consumer’s level of environmental involvement.
“Environmental involvement or green involvement refers to the degree to which a person perceives an attitude object, in this case in the context of environmental brand-relevant issues such as green products, packaging, ecolabels, or advertising, as personally relevant” (Hesse et al., 2022, pp. 5-6).
The research of Matthes et al. (2014) identified consumers’ environmental involvement as a key variable in consumer responses to green advertising. For that reason, it is not a surprise that environmental involvement has been implemented in previous studies regarding fashion brands and their CSR activities (Grimmer & Bingham, 2013; Hesse et al., 2022; Hill & Lee, 2015; Kim & Hall, 2015; Kim & Ma, 2014; Teona et al., 2019). Table 2 provides an overview of previous literature that explains the effect of environmental involvement within brands’
greening activities. Research has pointed out that the more environmentally concerned a consumer is, the more willing s/he is to buy green or sustainable products (Grimmer &
Bingham, 2013; Hill & Lee, 2015; Kim & Hall, 2015; Kim & Ma, 2014; Teona et al., 2019).
As seen in table 2, the study by Grimmer and Bingham (2013) concluded that if the environmental performance of a company is high, the purchase intention of the highly environmentally involved consumer will be higher as compared to the less environmentally involved consumer. Moreover, Kim and Ma (2014) specify this effect to the brand extension industry, in which they conclude that the more environmental involvement has a positive relationship on the brand evaluation when examining green brand extensions.
Table 2. Environmental involvement as a predictor for the success of companies’ greening activities.
Article Independent variable Dependent variable Moderator Conclusion
Grimmer & Bingham, 2013
Perceived environmental performance (PEP) of a company
purchase intention environmental involvement (EI)
“At low PEP, consumers with low EI report greater purchase intention than consumers with high EI, whereas at high PEP,
consumers with high EI reported greater purchase intention than those with low EI” (p. 1951).
Hesse et al., 2022 brand extension parent brand evaluation environmental
involvement “We conclude that brand knowledge, brand experience or
environmental afect create a mental debate on a higher construal level and are hence a breeding ground for skepticism” (p.14).
Hill & Lee, 2015 brand extension brand-cause fit environmental
involvement “Involvement with the cause of environmentalism also influenced consumers’ perceptions of the fit between the brand and the cause” (p.
216).
Kim & Hall, 2015 strength of consumers’
schema of brand green brand extension
acceptance environmental
involvement “Consequently, consumers’ ability to better understand the
environmental implications of fashion products will also influence the formation of their environmental attitude” (p. 36)
Kim & Ma, 2014 environmental
involvement brand extension fit - “Results show consumer’s environmental value to be a critical (positive relationship) determinant of their response to green brand extensions” (p. 34).
Teona et al., 2019 brand (luxury vs. fast-
fashion) purchase intention environmental
involvement “Finally, the degree of involvement moderates environmental claim effectiveness … we find that highly involved consumers respond more positively to substantive environmental claims for both fast- fashion and luxury brand. Conversely, environmental claims evoke less positive responses from consumers who lack involvement with environmental issues” (p. 873).
Teona et al. (2019) elaborate on this effect in more detail when making a distinction between fast-fashion brands and luxury brands. They (2019) find that the level of environmental involvement moderates the evaluation of the company's environmental claims;
highly involved consumers respond more positively to environmental claims made by companies for both the fast fashion brand and the luxury brand. Consumers that are not that environmentally involved respond less positively to environmental claims, regardless of the brand’s identity (fast fashion vs. luxury brand) (Teona et al., 2019). This is an interesting outcome, since prior research regarding brand extension success explained the main factor of success to be the perceived fit between the extension and the parent brand’s image (Bhat &
Reddy, 2001; Buil et al., 2009; Chun et al., 2015; Kim & John, 2008; Martínez Salinas & Pina Pérez, 2009; Prados-Peña & del Barrio-García, 2020). The research by Teona et al. (2019) concludes that the brand’s core image (luxury brand vs. fast fashion brand) does not affect the evaluation of the brand when advertising its green initiatives; only the environmental involvement moderates this evaluation.
However, not all studies concluded with this positive relationship between environmental involvement and greening initiatives. As seen in table 2, other studies pointed out that environmentally involved consumers could perceive the green marketing efforts of companies as something negative (Grimmer & Bingham, 2013; Hesse et al., 2022; Hill & Lee, 2015). Hesse et al. (2022) elaborate on this finding based on the idea of skepticism. This skepticism is developed by higher levels of environmental involvement of consumers, which
“may predict a critical appraisal and substantive discussion of arguments regarding green brand extensions” (p. 6). According to these authors, consumers with a higher level of environmental involvement are more likely to detect attempts to be misled in green advertising compared with less environmentally involved consumers. The rash and tactical use of these green marketing
activities have led to consumer skepticism and the assumption of greenwashing (Alves, 2009;
Hesse et al., 2022).
Moreover, as mentioned in table 2, Hill and Lee (2015) also considered the brand-cause fit when examining green brand extension success. Hill and Lee (2015) concluded that
“involvement with the cause of environmentalism also influenced consumers’ perceptions of the fit between the brand and the cause” (p. 216). If the cause, which is environmental sustainability, matches with the brand’s core values, the brand-cause fit would increase, which has a positive influence on the evaluation of that brand. However, if the cause does not match with the brand, the brand-cause fit would be perceived as lower, and so would the evaluation of the brand be (Hill & Lee, 2015). Environmental involvement moderates this effect. High environmental involvement would mean a more elaborate evaluation of the cause-brand fit perception, whereas low environmental involvement would mean a less elaborate evaluation of the brand-cause fit. Hill and Lee (2015) warn that low cause-fit perception of highly environmentally involved consumers can lead to skepticism of the company’s greening advertising efforts. This finding is in line with the concern of Hesse et al. (2022), where highly environmentally involved consumers can question the company’s greening efforts due to their non-green brand image.
When examining the origin of these skeptical responses to CSR activities in prior literature, Albert and Whetten (1985) found that corporate image advertising, in which CSR claims were involved, led to skepticism among consumers. Consumers reacted skeptically to companies' CSR claims due to self-interest attributions on the companies’ actions (Pomering
& Johnson, 2009). Advertising of CSR claims was perceived to be short-term and opportunistic promotional CSR, whereas institutionalized CSR would mean a long-term commitment. This matter did increase the skepticism of consumers (Pirsch et al., 2006). Only the central character and temporal continuity of a firm’s CSR activities would claim a long-term commitment, which
would decrease the level of skepticism about CSR activities (Albert & Whetten, 1985;
Pomering & Johnson, 2009).
Moreover, in Brown and Dacin’s study (1997), they warn that consumers may perceive the promotion of companies on their CSR records negatively because they may perceive that the company is trying to hide something. Moreover, a backfiring effect of brand evaluation is likely “if consumers question the validity of such CSR claims” (Pomering & Johnson, 2009, p.
427). This explains how consumers can generally negatively evaluate a brand when performing CSR practices and communicating about them to consumers, for example, through advertising.
Therefore, companies that want to engage in CSR activities must develop a strategy in which CSR is implemented as a long-term commitment throughout all their business processes (Pirsch et al., 2006) to sustain a high perceived cause-brand fit (Hill & Lee, 2015), which positively contributes to the overall brand evaluation, even for environmentally involved consumers.
3. CONCEPTUAL FRAMEWORK
Based on previous literature, a sum of hypotheses is proposed and later tested to see if these can be accepted. First, the direct effect of the brand extension strategy on the parent brand evaluation will be discussed. After that, the moderating effects of fit and environmental involvement will be discussed separately.
3.1 Direct effect
3.1.1 Brand extension strategy
Fast fashion consumers want to express themselves through fashion while staying within the boundaries of social norms (McNeill & Moore, 2015; Murray, 2002). Given how important identity formation is to many consumers, the desire to be 'fashionable' often prioritizes the desire to be ethical or sustainable. “This paradox highlights the clash of the desire to consume
with efforts to limit consumption” (McNeill & Moore, 2015, p. 212). As consumers become increasingly more familiar with sustainable product offerings because of their increased cause awareness, they may be more supportive of fast fashion retailers' sustainability initiatives (Hill
& Lee, 2015).
Moreover, due to the increasing trend of responsible consumerism, consumers tend to choose the green alternative more often (White, et al., 2020). The trend of responsible consumerism can feel like a social pressure on consumers and therefore, consumers tend to choose the sustainable alternative with the idea of ‘doing the right thing’ or doing ‘that what is expected from them’. The reason behind this outcome can be explained by the subjective norm within the Theory of Planned Behavior (Ajzen, 1991). This theory explains, with six elements, how intentions, which are a proximal determinant for behavior, can be explained. The subjective norm is one of the elements within the Theory of Planned Behavior that refers to the perceived social pressure to perform or not to perform a behavior (La Barbera & Ajzen, 2020).
Following this theory, the perceived social pressure of responsible consumerism would influence the preference for a sustainable alternative rather than the existing non-sustainable product. This way, the sustainable alternative will become more popular after the publication by Forbes of responsible consumerism, being one of the trends of 2018 (Danziger 2018).
Therefore, the evaluation of a brand with a green line extension will be evaluated more positively, as compared to its existing line. Therefore, the following hypothesis is put forward:
H1: Compared to the existing product, the green line extension will lead to a more positive brand evaluation.
3.2 Moderating effects 3.2.1 Fit
The fit between the extension and the parent brand is one of the most used moderators throughout the research on brand extension success (Aaker, 1990; Childs, et al., 2018;
Dall’Olmo et al., 2013; Dwivedi et al., 2009; Martinelli, et al., 2016; Martínez & de Chernatony, 2004; Reddy et al., 1994; Smith & Park, 1992; Sun, 2010). The effect of fit is based on the elicited feedback effects by fit. If the fit between the parent brand and its extension is high, the parent brand evaluation will be more positive. If the fit is low, the parent brand evaluation will be more negative. More specifically, “if this similarity of associations between the parent brand and the extension increases, so will a schematic fit between the brand and the extension (and vice versa) lead to a greater transfer of attitude from the parent brand to the extension” (Dwivedi, et al., 2009, p. 332). Therefore, the following hypotheses are proposed:
H2: The effect of brand extension on the parent brand evaluation is moderated by the fit, such that:
H2a: For high fit, the green line extension leads to a higher evaluation of the parent brand in comparison with the existing product.
H2b: For low fit, the green line extension leads to a lower evaluation of the parent brand in comparison with the existing product.
3.2.2 Environmental involvement
As seen in the mentioned quotes in the introduction and theoretical framework, not all consumers evaluate the parent brand positively after the introduction of a green line extension.
The fit plays a central part in this framework. Moreover, the perception of fit will be evaluated differently, based on the environmental involvement of consumers (Bhardwaj & Fairhurst, 2010; Hesse et al., 2022; Kim & Hall, 2015).
The reason behind this fragmented response can be explained by the Elaboration Likelihood Model (ELM) (Petty & Cacioppo, 1986). This model explains that the personal relevance of customers' perceptions of objects is classified when elaborating on this object. The motivation and ability to judge the object will impact the elaboration of that object (Petty &
Cacioppo, 1986). Ability is influenced by knowledge of that subject (Kim & Oh, 2020). If the motivation and ability to judge this object are low, consumers will make use of simple cues to construct an evaluation. Here, consumers make use of the peripheral route within the ELM.
When zooming into this study, consumers that are not that environmentally involved do not possess the ability (knowledge) or motivation (interest) to evaluate a green brand extension (Kang & Herr, 2006; Pomering & Johnson, 2009; Priester et al., 1999). Therefore, they make use of simple cues to compose their evaluation of this green brand extension.
"Sustainable” or “green” on new green products triggers low environmentally involved consumers to evaluate this green brand extension and, with that, the parent brand, positively, regardless of the fit between the green brand extension and the parent brand image, because this green extension is better for the environment than their existing collection. Low environmental involvement consumers will, therefore, regardless of the fit between the green extension and the brand image, perceive the green extension as something positive (H3a+b).
However, “the intended greening backward image transfer of companies cannot be taken for granted” (Hesse et al., 2022, p. 13), since not all consumers evaluate this green brand extension positively. If environmental sustainability is personally relevant to consumers, they possess the ability and motivation to elaborate on this topic (Kang & Herr, 2006; Pomering &
Johnson, 2009; Priester et al., 1999). This way, the central route of the ELM is used (Petty &
Cacioppo, 1986). A consumer's increased environmental involvement may forecast a critical evaluation and comprehensive discussion of arguments about green brand extensions (Grimmer & Woolley, 2012; Hesse et al., 2022; Matthes et al., 2014; Trump & Newman, 2016).
This is in line with the findings of Pomering and Johnson (2009) as they argue that the motivation of consumers to evaluate sustainability-related advertisements of firms is influenced by the personal relevance of the communication (Priester et al., 1999).
Moreover, if a low fit brand is taken under consideration, highly environmentally involved consumers perceive this green brand extension as an attempt by the company to take advantage of this social cause, and therefore, highly involved consumers will respond with higher levels of skepticism (Hesse, et al., 2022; Skarmeas & Leonidou, 2013). Besides, recalling the "non-green version" (Majid & Russell, 2015, p. 994), which can be related to the existing clothing line, may hinder the brand's capacity to promote itself as green or eco- friendly. As a result, a negative image shift and an attempt at greenwashing may occur (Hesse et al., 2022). This would mean that a low fit brand that introduces a green line extension would be evaluated negatively by environmentally involved consumers.
In contrast, prior research has shown that if highly environmentally involved participants were presented with environmental commercials, they had a higher purchase intention for these sustainable brands (Grimmer & Woolley, 2012; Panda et al., 2020).
Moreover, fashion brands “that exclude deep fundamental values that place importance on people and the planet will be better positioned to leverage their brand image into green brand extensions” (Kim & Hall, 2015, p. 41). If so, fashion brands with a high fit between a green extension and their parent brand image will be evaluated more positively by high environmentally involved consumers. Based on the afore-mentioned previous findings, the following hypotheses are proposed:
H3: The effect of fit is moderated by the level of environmental involvement, such that:
H3a: When the environmental involvement is low and the fit is high, the green line extension will lead to a more positive brand evaluation, in comparison with the existing line.
H3b: When the environmental involvement is low and the fit is low, the green line extension will lead to a more positive brand evaluation, in comparison with the existing line.
H3c: When the environmental involvement is high and the fit is low, the green line extension will lead to a more negative brand evaluation, in comparison with the existing line.
H3d: When the environmental involvement is high and the fit is high, the green line extension will lead to a more positive brand evaluation, in comparison with the existing line.
3.3 Conceptual model
In Figure 1, a schematic representation of the relationships between constructs is shown.
Here, the main effects and interaction (moderator) effects of all variables are mentioned.
Figure 1. Conceptual model.
4. METHODOLOGY
4.1 Data collection
This study examines the moderating influence of the fit and the environmental involvement on the effect of the extension strategy on parent brand evaluation. The study has a 2 (existing line
vs. green brand extension) x 2 (low fit vs. high fit) x 2 (low environmental involvement vs.
high environmental involvement) between-subjects design. An online experiment was conducted to scientifically test the proposed hypotheses in this study. The brand extension strategy conditions (existing vs. green brand extension) and the fit conditions (low vs. high) are manipulated to examine potential differences. The environmental involvement is not manipulated but measured since all respondents, regardless of their condition, were asked to what extent they are environmentally involved.
To make claims about two or more variables, a relationship must be detected by making use of an experimental survey (Chang, 2017). This study made use of the online survey construction tool Qualtrics to collect its data and explore the relationship between brand extension strategy, fit, and environmental involvement. The data was collected through convenience sampling (availability sampling). The questionnaire for this survey was distributed on different social media channels, such as Facebook, LinkedIn, Instagram, WhatsApp, and e-mail. Afterward, the still missing respondents (N = 20) were collected by making use of the respondents' deriving website named Prolific.
The survey started with an introduction text, seen in appendix A, where it was mentioned that the survey would take approximately 3 minutes and that the anonymity of the respondents was guaranteed, which induced the bias of socially desirable answers (Chung &
Monroe, 2003). After approving the informed consent, respondents were transferred to the experimental survey. The survey was open for respondents on Qualtrics from May 19th, 2022, until May 31st, 2022. After this time frame, 271 respondents entered the survey. Only 207 respondents had entirely filled in the survey, which is a response rate of 76.4%. Respondents of all ages who currently live in the Netherlands were selected to take part in this survey.
4.2 Constructs
Measurement scales of previous research have been used to test if the environmental involvement, along with the fit, has an impact on the effect of the extension strategy on the parent brand evaluation. The dependent variable, parent brand evaluation, is measured by the evaluation construct that is used by Dwivedi et al. (2009). This measurement scale, as seen in table 3, consists of five items that are formulated as statements, by which the respondent must indicate to what extent he/she agrees with it, based on a 7-point Likert scale.
The independent variable environmental involvement is measured by Hill and Lee’s (2015) scale of the construct environmental involvement. The scale of this construct consists of five keywords, in which respondents had to use a slider to indicate to what extent they identified with that keyword, by making use of the start sentence: “To me, environmental issues are …” (see table 3).
Table 3. Latent constructs and their items.
Latent constructs Items Item
loading
Adapted from
Environmental involvement EI1 Insignificant - significant 0.85 Hill and Lee (2015)
EI2 Uninteresting - interesting 0.84
EI3 Meaningless - meaningful 0.82
EI4 Of no concern - concerns mee 0.63
EI5 Superfluous - vital 0.82
Parent brand evaluation PBE1 My attitude towards T&Z is very positive. 0.94 Dwivedi et al. (2009)
PBE2 I am very favorably disposed towards T&Z. 0.89
PBE2 According to me, T&Z is doing great. 0.91
PBE4 I admire T&Z a lot. 0.83
PBE5
_REC
I feel bad about T&Z. 0.84
The independent variable extension strategy is manipulated by the construction of two different advertisements: one advertisement is constructed for the existing line, and one advertisement poster is constructed for the extension line (see appendix B). The independent variable fit is manipulated by two different introduction texts of the same non-existent brand (see appendix B). One introduction text corresponds with a high fit between the parent brand and the green line extension, and the other text corresponds with a low fit between the parent brand and the green line extension. A fictitious brand has been used in this research. By making use of an existing brand, in comparison with a brand that is unknown, the study’s validity will be at risk due to bias that is generated by the respondents’ previous brand knowledge or respondents' previous brand experiences (Keller & Aaker, 1992). This results in brand associations that cannot easily be manipulated by the developed stimuli for this experiment.
Therefore, a fictitious brand is created to avoid the noise of associations that existing brands bring.
4.3 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.
