SHARON NG This research examines cross-cultural differences in brand dilution effects and the moderating role of motivation and extension typicality. Drawing from recent findings that indicate that culture affects the way people treat conflicting information, this research predicts that Easterners and Westerners react differently to failures by a brand extension. In contrast to previous findings that have suggested that failure in a typical extension leads to less brand dilution for Westerners when they are highly motivated (than when they are less motivated), this study argues that Easterners exhibit greater brand dilution when they are less motivated (than when they are highly motivated). The opposite pattern of results should emerge when the extension is atypical. Three studies provide support for these predictions and the underlying processes. Keywords: brand dilution, culture, self-construal, motivation, extension typicality Cultural Orientation and Brand Dilution: Impact of Motivation Level and Extension Typicality The introduction of brand extensions or new products using an established brand name is one strategy by which firms leverage a brand’s goodwill (Aaker and Keller 1990; Boush and Loken 1991). This strategy enables firms to introduce new products at much lower risks and costs. The proliferation of brand extensions in the marketplace testifies to the value firms place on this strategy. However, using a brand extension strategy is not without drawbacks. Although successful brand extensions help enhance the equity of a brand, the converse is true as well: Should an extended product fail, the negative affect or associations it generates may filter back to the parent brand, thereby “diluting” its equity (Loken and John 1993; Milberg, Park, and McCarthy 1997). Thus, firms need to be cautious when making brand extension decisions and understand how various factors, such as culture, may affect consumers’ reactions to extension success and failure. Both practitioners and researchers acknowledge the importance of understanding the impact of culture on *Sharon Ng is Associate Professor of Marketing, Nanyang Business School, Nanyang Technological University (e-mail: angsl@ntu.edu.sg). The author acknowledges financial support from Nanyang Business School and thanks the two anonymous JMR reviewers for their helpful comments. The author also thanks Akshay Rao and Michael J. Houston for their insightful comments on a previous draft of this article. Special thanks to Barbara Loken for her advice and mentorship during the early part of this research. Ziv Carmon served as associate editor for this article. the effectiveness of branding strategies. The number of U.S. companies that have expanded into foreign markets has increased exponentially, and the successful penetration of overseas markets requires a good understanding of the impact of culture on people’s purchasing behavior. A fundamental issue that marketing managers face is how consumers in different cultures react to various branding strategies. In this research, I examine one aspect of this issue by investigating how culture affects people’s reactions to brand extension failures. Recent findings in cross-cultural literature show that people across cultures do not process information similarly. Specifically, Easterners (e.g., Chinese people) are more tolerant of inconsistency. When faced with two pieces of conflicting information, they prefer to seek a middle position by taking both pieces of information into account. In contrast, Westerners (e.g., Americans) feel a greater need to resolve any inconsistency. They are more likely to focus on just one piece of the information to the exclusion of another piece in such situations (Nisbett et al. 2001). This finding suggests a difference in the way Easterners and Westerners evaluate brand extension failure information. Why? Most brands that are extended in the marketplace possess at least a moderately positive brand image, so when an extension fails, the negative information conflicts with the brand’s positive image. If Easterners and Westerners differ in the way they process conflicting information, they also should differ in their perceptions of brand dilution effects. This claim is consistent with previous findings that the © 2010, American Marketing Association ISSN: 0022-2437 (print), 1547-7193 (electronic) 186 Journal of Marketing Research Vol. XLVII (February 2010), 186–198 Cultural Orientation and Brand Dilution 187 impact of an extension failure on brand equity depends on other factors, such as the consistency of the extended product with the parent brand, motivation levels, information accessibility and diagnosticity, and firms’ branding strategies (Ahluwalia and Gurhan-Canli 2000; Gurhan-Canli and Maheswaran 1998; John, Loken, and Joiner 1998; Loken and John 1993; Milberg, Park, and McCarthy 1997). Building on these findings, I propose that culture is another important variable to consider. Thus, the objective of this research is to address two basic issues that are critical to understanding how firms should brand their products in foreign markets. First, does culture affect how consumers react to brand failure information? I examine this issue in the context of bicultural consumers. Specifically, I assess how these bicultural people respond when different cultural orientations or processing styles temporarily become more accessible. Second, do motivation level and extension typicality moderate the effect? By showing how the effect of culture varies according to people’s motivation level and type of extended products, I highlight the complexity associated with understanding when and how culture affects consumers’ judgments. Answers to these questions also can help marketing managers make better branding decisions in foreign markets. The rest of this article proceeds as follows: First, I briefly discuss relevant literature that provides the basis for the hypotheses. Second, I report on the three studies conducted to test these hypotheses. Third, I conclude with a discussion of the implications of the findings and avenues for further research. THEORETICAL FRAMEWORK Extant Literature on BrandFeedback Effects To renew consumers’ interest in their products and keep pace with changing consumer tastes, firms must introduce new products in the marketplace. However, the manner in which new products should be introduced remains a critical question. Should new products represent a separate brand name or the same family brand? Each strategy has pros and cons. Introducing new products under the family brand name helps reduce promotion costs and encourages acceptance of new products, especially if consumers are already familiar with the brand and transfer their existing brand beliefs to the new products (Keller 2003). However, information does not flow in only one direction. Should the new product fail, negative beliefs generated from the extension failure may filter back to the parent brand, thereby diluting its brand equity (John, Loken, and Joiner 1998; Loken and John 1993). Because firms must protect their brand equity, understanding when and to what extent brand dilution occurs is important both managerially and theoretically. As testimony to the importance of this issue, many studies have attempted to address these questions (e.g., Ahluwalia and Gurhan-Canli 2000; Gurhan-Canli and Maheswaran 1998; John, Loken, and Joiner 1998; Loken and John 1993; Milberg, Park, and McCarthy 1997). Prior studies consist of two categories. One group of studies focuses primarily on identifying situations in which firms are insulated from dilution effects. For example, John, Loken, and Joiner (1998) find that flagship products are relatively immune to negative feedback from extended products. Milberg, Park, and McCarthy (1997) also show that firms strategically try to mitigate any negative feedback effects from product extensions through subbranding. A second group of studies focuses on identifying variables that moderate brand dilution effects. For example, Loken and John (1993) examine how perceptions of “gentleness” and “quality” for Johnson & Johnson may depend on the typicality of the brand extension (i.e., extent to which the extension appears inconsistent with the parent brand). They find that dilution is less likely when extension typicality is salient and consumers perceive the extension as atypical of the family brand. Ahluwalia and Gurhan-Canli (2000) find that enhancement and dilution effects are greatest when extension information is highly accessible (i.e., top of the mind). Thus, substantial research has investigated the factors that affect brand dilution. However, most existing research pertains to Western cultures. Do extension failures have similar effects in Eastern cultures? Existing research is silent on this issue. Drawing from recent findings in crosscultural literature, I propose that people in different cultures react differently to extension failures, depending on their motivation level and the typicality of the extended product. Impact of Motivation andExtension Typicality Existing literature suggests that a key factor that affects brand dilution effects is motivation level. Motivation affects a person’s willingness to process information (Eagly and Chaiken 1993; Petty and Wegener 1999). Dual process theories such as the elaboration likelihood model and the heuristic-systematic model postulate that motivation may affect the quality and quantity of information processed (Petty and Wegener 1999). When motivation is low, people engage in less resource-demanding processes. They process less information and scrutinize the same information less carefully (Gurhan-Canli and Maheswaran 1998; Petty and Wegener 1999). They rely only on a subset of information to make their judgments. However, when motivation increases, people engage in relatively more extensive and effortful processing. They are more likely to scrutinize all information presented and show increased consideration of diagnostic information to arrive at a reasoned attitude (Aaker and Sengupta 2000; Gurhan-Canli and Maheswaran 1998; Petty, Cacioppo, and Schumann 1983; Petty and Wegener 1999). Although general consensus states that people engage in less effortful processing and rely only on a subset of information when they experience low motivation, there is a lack of agreement about what information people focus on when they receive conflicting information. One stream of literature (e.g., consistency bias, negativity effects, predecisional distortion) argues that when motivation is low, people discount any inconsistent information and rely on their prior attitude or beliefs in their judgment. For example, consistency bias research argues that with low motivation, people are more likely to base their evaluations on prior brand attitudes and discount any inconsistent information. Research in predecisional distortion also shows that people tend to 188 JOURNAL OF MARKETING RESEARCH, FEBRUARY 2010 distort new information to make it consistent with their existing preferences (Russo, Meloy, and Medvec 1998). According to this perspective, in the event of an extension failure, greater dilution occurs when motivation is high than when motivation is low because, when motivation is low, consumers rely more on their prior attitude toward the brand (which is generally positive, because brands that possess positive equity are more likely to engage in brand extensions). However, when motivation increases, the consumer pays greater attention to all information presented and gives greater weight to information that is more diagnostic. Prior research on the negativity effect has shown that people consider negative information (e.g., extension failure) more diagnostic than positive information (Ahluwalia 2002), so greater dilution may occur with high motivation. However, another group of studies argues for the reverse effects. A person may be less likely to process all the information presented when he or she has low motivation, but in that case, the person also chooses to rely on the information he or she perceives as more diagnostic (Chaiken, Liberman, and Eagly 1989). For example, Maheswaran and Chaiken (1991) find that with low motivation, when the valence of attribute information is inconsistent with that of the heuristic cues, people tend to rely on the more diagnostic attribute information to make their judgments. Aaker and Sengupta (2000) also find that when there is an incongruity between the source (e.g., endorser) and attribute information, the more diagnostic attribute information influences consumers’ judgments more. According to this research stream, consumers should pay greater attention to the extension failure information (which is more diagnostic) when they have low motivation. However, when people invest more effort to process all the information available to them with high motivation, the inclusion of other pieces of information (including positive information, such as prior brand attitude) in the evaluation might mitigate the negative effect of the extension failure. In this situation, greater dilution is expected in the low motivation condition. This perspective is not to suggest that people do not focus on diagnostic information when they have high motivation, nor that positive and negative information contribute equally to people’s attitudes. Rather, a person who takes into account both positive and negative information should exhibit more favorable attitudes than another person who only takes into account negative information. With high motivation, the more diagnostic negative information should exert a greater impact, but the mere consideration of the positive information also should exert some influence on attitudes. Thus, the two perspectives make different predictions about the impact of motivation on brand dilution. Although they appear contradictory, they may be equally valid, albeit in different conditions. Studies by Gurhan-Canli and Maheswaran (1998) show that depending on the typicality of the extension, higher motivation leads to greater or lesser dilution. Specifically, the failure of an extension in a product category that appears typical or similar to the brand’s existing products leads to greater dilution in the low motivation condition than in the high motivation condition. Failure in a typical extension is a piece of diagnostic information that people cannot ignore. Because they consider only a subset of information when they experience low motivation, people likely focus on this negative information. However, when motivation increases, including other information reduces the impact of the extension failure information. However, when an extension is atypical, failure in the extension is not diagnostic of the brand’s quality, and in the low motivation condition, consumers subtype this extension, such that it has minimal influence on the overall brand schema. In the high motivation condition, consumers consider all pieces of information, and extension failure information might exert some influence on perceptions, even if it is not highly diagnostic information. In such cases, greater dilution should occur in the high motivation condition than in the low motivation condition. Thus, the impact of motivation on brand dilution effects depends on the perceived typicality of the extension. H1a : For a typical extension, when Westerners perceive an extended product’s performance on an attribute as below expectations, they evaluate the parent brand lower on that attribute when their motivation is low than when their motivation is high. H1b: For an atypical extension, when Westerners perceive an extended product’s performance on an attribute as below expectations, they evaluate the parent brand lower on that attribute when their motivation is high than when their motivation is low. BrandDilution Effects in Eastern Culture Despite some differences, most prior studies concur that in the face of conflicting information, people focus only on selected information when they have low motivation. When their motivation is high, people take into account more information and pay greater attention to information that is more diagnostic. However, is such information processing universal? The answer is yes and no. Research shows that similar to Westerners, Easterners engage in more effortful processing of information when their motivation is high. Easterners scrutinize the information provided in greater detail and pay greater attention to information that is more diagnostic (Aaker and Maheswaran 1997; Aaker and Sengupta 2000). However, unlike Westerners, when their motivation is low, Easterners do not necessarily focus only on selected information in making a judgment. Research in marketing and psychology shows that even with low motivation, Easterners have a greater tolerance for ambiguity that leads them to incorporate information from conflicting perspectives in their judgments.1 For example, Aaker and Sengupta (2000) show that when motivation is low, Westerners focus on selected pieces of information, whereas Easterners consider the multiple pieces of information provided. In their studies, they also show that in low motivation conditions, when participants from an Eastern origin receive conflicting information about an attribute and an endorser, they are more likely 1An exception is Aaker and Maheswaran (1997), who find that in low motivation conditions, Easterners behave like Westerners and focus only on the diagnostic information. However, Aaker and Sengupta (2000) argue that this finding applies only to the situation in which one of the cues is highly diagnostic. Cultural Orientation and Brand Dilution 189 to take into account both pieces of information, whereas Westerners focus primarily on the attribute. They argue that this distinction is because Easterners are more tolerant of ambiguity and less compelled to resolve the incongruity. This argument is consistent with prior research in crosscultural literature that shows that Easterners deal with contradictions in a dialectic or compromise manner (Peng and Nisbett 1999). They process information holistically, attending to and assigning some causality to context (Choi and Nisbett 2000). To Easterners, the world is constantly changing, and it is important to understand the interrelation among events (Nisbett et al. 2001). An ever-changing world also implies constant contradiction. This emphasis on change and interrelation among events leads to a more dialectic way of thinking, which “involves reconciling, transcending, or even accepting apparent contradictions” and the search for the “Middle Way” (Nisbett et al. 2001, p. 294; see also Peng and Nisbett 1999). Unlike Westerners, who are chronically more likely to reject one of the propositions and focus on the piece of information they consider more plausible or diagnostic, Easterners believe that they can find truth in each perspective and should seek a balance between extreme views. In support of this argument, in psychology literature, Peng and Nisbett (1999) reveal that participants who read about two contradictory studies demonstrated more moderate attitudes than those who read only one of them. This finding suggests that participants who read about the two contradictory studies took into account both perspectives, as reflected in their attitude. Evidence for greater tolerance of inconsistency in Eastern cultures also emerges from other domains. For example, Bagozzi, Wong, and Yi (1999) show that unlike Americans, who are more likely to experience only one form of emotions, both negative and positive emotions can coexist for Chinese people. Cousins (1989) also shows that Easterners consider both dispositional traits and contextual cues when making a judgment; Westerners take into account only the dispositional traits. Thus, significant evidence shows that unlike Westerners, who zoom in on a particular aspect, Easterners are chronically more likely to take information from varied perspectives into account. According to these findings, because extension failure by a positively viewed brand may be construed as two pieces of contradictory information (i.e., the positive image of the brand versus the negative information about the new product), Easterners should react differently to an extension failure than Westerners. Specifically, Easterners chronically take into account more pieces of information, so they are more likely to incorporate both negative extension failure information and positive brand attitude in their judgments when they have low motivation. However, when motivation increases, closer scrutiny should reveal that some information is more diagnostic than others, with greater weight placed on this information (Aaker and Sengupta 2000). Whether this weight leads to greater or lesser degrees of dilution depends on the typicality of the extension. When the extension is typical, more elaborate processing leads Easterners to focus on the more diagnostic extension failure information, prompting greater dilution when motivation is high compared with when motivation is low (i.e., focusing on the more diagnostic negative information with high motivation should lead to less favorable attitudes toward the parent brand, versus considering both the negative and the positive information in low motivation conditions). However, when the extension is atypical, more elaborate processing with high motivation should lead Easterners to realize that the extension failure is not diagnostic of the parent brand. Thus, they focus more on their prior attitude and perceive less dilution when their motivation is high than when their motivation is low (i.e., focusing on the more diagnostic positive information with high motivation should lead Easterners to adopt more favorable attitudes toward the parent brand, versus considering both negative and positive information in low motivation conditions).2 H2a : For a typical extension, when Easterners perceive an extended product’s performance on an attribute as below expectations, they evaluate the parent brand lower on that attribute when their motivation is high than when their motivation is low. H2b: For an atypical extension, when Easterners perceive an extended product’s performance on an attribute as below expectations, they evaluate the parent brand lower on that attribute when their motivation is low than when their motivation is high. BrandEnhancement Effects Both H1 and H2 indicate cross-cultural differences in brand dilution effects. What happens when an extension is successful? In the event of extension success, the positive information is consistent with the positive brand information. Because there should be no difference in the way Easterners and Westerners evaluate congruent information, a similar pattern of results is expected in both cultures. Consistent with previous research that has shown that greater elaboration leads to more polarized and stronger attitudes, greater brand enhancement is also expected when people are highly motivated than when they are not as motivated, across cultures. H3: Both Easterners and Westerners exhibit a greater degree of brand enhancement when their motivation is high than when their motivation is low. To test these hypotheses, I conduct three studies. Study 1 examines the impact of culture on the feedback effect of negative information on a typical extension by making either Eastern or Western cultural orientations more accessible through priming. Study 2 builds on the findings in Study 1 by priming participants’ processing styles more directly and examining the moderating role of extension typicality. Study 3 further examines what happens in the event of brand extension success. 2It is argued that only people who take into account both existing (positive) brand information and (negative) extension failure information exhibit a different attitude from those who consider only one piece of information. It is not argued that existing brand information and extension failure information contribute equally to people’s attitudes. The way the two pieces of information combine may differ across contexts and people; thus, no predictions are made about the relative impact of each piece of information. 190 JOURNAL OF MARKETING RESEARCH, FEBRUARY 2010 STUDY 1 Method Design. The objective of Study 1 is to examine whether people across cultures exhibit different brand dilution effects. In particular, it focuses on how extension failure on a key parent brand attribute affects consumers’ subsequent parent brand beliefs about that attribute.3 To test the hypotheses, a 2 (cultural prime: U.S. culture versus Chinese culture)×2 (motivation: low versus high) between-subjects design was used. Typicality was held constant across conditions, and all participants reviewed information about a moderately typical extension (H1a and H2a. All the factors were manipulated, and participants were randomly assigned to each condition. Culture was manipulated by increasing the accessibility of specific cultural orientations (i.e., Eastern culture or Western culture) to participants through priming. This methodology is consistent with recent findings that multiple cultural orientations exist within a single person (e.g., bicultural people; see Hong et al. 2000; Lau-Gesk 2003), such that in any given context, one orientation may dominate the other. However, a less dominant cultural orientation may become temporarily more accessible through a variety of priming techniques. In contrast to cross-national designs traditionally used in prior literature, this approach enables researchers to control for a host of extraneous variables that may lead to potential confounding (e.g., Aaker and Lee 2000; Chen, Ng, and Rao 2005; Hong et al. 2000). Consistent with this paradigm, for the following studies, I recruited bicultural respondents and made their Eastern or Western cultural orientation temporarily more accessible through visual primes. Participants. One hundred five Chinese Singaporean students from a Singaporean university participated in this study for partial fulfillment of course credit. Most previous research has focused on the difference between Eastern culture (epitomized by Chinese culture) and Western culture (epitomized by U.S. culture), so for these studies, participants viewed either a U.S. prime or a Chinese prime. Singaporean students are a good sample for such studies because most Singaporeans retain some knowledge of their ethnic culture (e.g., Chinese) and yet are also exposed to Western influences (e.g., products, films). Thus, they embody both traditional Eastern culture and Western culture, to which they have been exposed since birth. Moreover, because English is the first language in the country, no problems are associated with having to translate the questionnaire. Approximately 26 students were in each cell, and a control group of participants who were not exposed to the extension information provided the baseline condition as a check for dilution. 3In general, prior literature has operationalized brand dilution as either dilution in the general affect toward the brand (e.g., Keller and Aaker 1992) or dilution in a person’s perception of specific attribute beliefs (e.g., Loken and John 1993). The second operationalization is adopted because, when a company uses an existing brand to introduce a new product, it usually hopes to transfer some prevailing, positive association from the parent brand to the new product. These associations define the brand and often are the brand’s key features that distinguish it from competitors (Loken and John 1993). Procedure and stimuli. Participants completed the online study in front of a computer. As primes of each cultural orientation, participants viewed collages comprising either U.S. cultural icons or Chinese cultural icons. Hong and colleagues (2000) have applied a similar priming technique successfully in marketing studies (Chen, Ng, and Rao 2005). On the cover page of the study, participants read that they would be asked to complete two unrelated studies. The first study aimed to assess their knowledge of important icons, so they were to examine the icons carefully. On the next page, participants saw either a U.S. collage or a Chinese collage. The U.S. collage contained pictures of U.S. cultural icons (e.g., Superman, Statute of Liberty, U.S. flag, bald eagle). The Chinese collage included pictures of Chinese cultural icons (e.g., Confucius, Great Wall of China, calligraphy, Chinese opera) (Chen, Ng, and Rao 2005). After viewing the collage, participants recalled the icons they had just seen, which helped reinforce the prime. Next, the respondents proceeded to the second study.4 The first page of the second study included the motivation manipulation. Participants read that Sony would be introducing a new type of personal digital assistant (PDA) that allows users to play games (with controls similar to Game Boy) in either Singapore (high motivation condition) or Asia (low motivation condition). Sony is a familiar brand in Singapore (7 = “highly familiar,” M = 6.5), and a pretest showed that, in general, people are favorable toward it (7 = “very favorable,” M = 6.6). Because for this study extension typicality remained constant, the extension product needed to be perceived as moderately typical of Sony’s existing products. Prior research also has shown that culture or processing styles may affect people’s perceptions of extension similarity (Monga and John 2005; Ng and Houston 2005). Easterners or people who process information holistically can find relationships among products better and therefore view products as more similar than Westerners or people who process information analytically. Therefore, the experimental product must be one that both groups view similarly in terms of typicality. A PDA fits this bill quite well. First, Sony currently has products in the PDA category, and the gaming capabilities described in relation to the extended product are similar to the game consoles currently sold by Sony. A pretest shows that PDAs with gaming capabilities were typical of Sony’s products, according to participants primed with both Chinese and U.S. collages (7 = “typical,” MUS = 5.64, MChinese = 5.35). Second, because the influence of positive brand information relative to negative extension information is the key variable of interest, a product for which the brand name is an important attribute was also needed. Pretests show that brand name was important in PDA purchases (7 = “important,” M = 5.8). The instructions indicated that the experimenters were interested in participants’ opinion of a new product. To aid in their evaluation, they would receive a recent Consumer Reports review of the new product. The review provided information about product performance on four 4A suspicion check conducted at the end of the experiment asked participants to write down what they believed were the objectives of each study. Two independent judges coded these responses with regard to whether the participants linked the two studies together. Almost all the participants believed the story and did not link the two studies. Cultural Orientation and Brand Dilution 191 attributes: design, battery life, audio quality, and price. The four attributes were chosen because, to test for the dilution of specific beliefs, the attributes must be associated strongly with Sony and important for consumers’ PDA purchases. From actual reviews of PDAs published in magazines, in newspapers, and on the Web, ten PDA attributes were considered important. In a pretest, a group of 20 students rated the extent to which they associated Sony strongly with the attributes, as well as the importance of the attributes for PDA purchases. The attribute they associated most strongly with Sony and considered important for PDAs was audio quality, which served as the focal attribute. For the negative evaluation of the new product on the focal attribute, the review rated the new PDA poorly on audio quality. A separate pretest with 30 participants also showed that this information was moderately inconsistent with Sony’s image (7 = “inconsistent,” M = 5.3; SD = 1.23). In addition, to mask the focal attribute, the review contained ratings of three other attributes, namely, design, battery life, and price. To make the review sound believable, the new PDA received negative ratings in terms of design but moderately positive ratings on battery life and price. If the new product were rated inconsistently on all four attributes, the scenario would become too unbelievable; it is rare for a new product to receive poor ratings on all dimensions. After reading the review, participants rated Sony and the new PDA on the four attributes, the perceived typicality of the new PDA, and the consistency of the information provided, relative to Sony’s image. To assess whether the negative information had any impact on actual product choice, participants indicated which brand of MP3 player (Sony or Creative Zen) they would like to receive, should their names be drawn in a lucky drawing promoted as part of the experiment. An MP3 player provides the choice option because it is another product for which audio quality is of paramount importance. If the negative information provided affects people’s perceptions of Sony’s audio quality, they should be less willing to choose the Sony MP3 player. A Creative Zen MP3 player is the alternative MP3 player because it is popular in Singapore, and most people have a moderately favorable evaluation of the device (7 = “favorable,” M = 5.92). The pretest showed no significant difference in attitudes between the two MP2 players (MSony = 5.66; F(1, 24) = 69, p > 1); the participants also viewed the two brands as equivalent in audio quality (MCreative = 569, MSony = 575; F(1, 24) = 37, p > 1). Finally, participants indicated any thoughts they had about the review and completed some manipulation checks and demographic measures. Participants in the control condition were not exposed to the manipulations; they only indicated their evaluations of Sony on the four attributes and their overall attitude toward Sony. Results Manipulation checks. For the motivation manipulation check, participants responded to a two-item, seven-point scale about how interested and involved they were when completing the questionnaire (with 7 = “highly involved,” “interested”). A full-factorial analysis of variance (ANOVA) performed on the mean of the two-item scale shows that the motivation manipulation was successful. Only the main effect of motivation was significant (F(1, 101) = 21.66, p < 01). Participants in the high motivation condition (M = 4.44, SE = .16) were more motivated than those in the low motivation condition (M = 3.42, SE = 16). No other main effects and interaction effects were significant (p > 1). Two measures checked whether the priming manipulation was successful. First, participants named the first three politicians that came to mind; if participants thought more in line with Eastern (Western) culture, they should be likely to list more Eastern (Western) politicians (Chen, Ng, and Rao 2005). A full-factorial ANOVA performed on the politicians listed showed a significant effect of cultural priming (F(1, 101) = 28.27, p < 01). Participants in the Chinese prime condition listed significantly more Eastern politicians (M = 1.78, SE = .10) than those in the U.S. prime condition (M = 1.22, SE = .10). Participants in the U.S. prime condition also listed significantly more Western politicians (M = 2.12, SE = 11) than those in the Chinese prime condition (M = .88, SE = 11). No other main effects or interaction effects were significant (p > 1). Second, participants indicated their attitude toward a list of four values frequently associated with Chinese culture (e.g., taking care of aged parents, greeting teachers) and four values frequently associated with the Western culture (e.g., being unique, independence).5 Both scales demonstrated good psychometric properties (Chinese scale: = 78; Western scale: = 83). Participants in the Chinese prime condition agreed more with the Chinese cultural values (M = 5.07, SE = .10) than with Western cultural values (M = 4.31, SE = .10; F(1, 101) = 30.32, p < 01). In contrast, those in the U.S. prime condition agreed more with the list of Western cultural values (M = 5.62, SE = .17) than with the Chinese cultural values (M = 4.56, SE = .17; F(1, 101) = 19.84, p < 01). Thus, the results from both manipulation checks converged, in support of the cultural manipulation. Third, the analysis of participants’ ratings of the consistency of the information provided with Sony’s image showed that the audio quality information appeared moderately inconsistent with Sony’s image (7 = “inconsistent,” M = 5.3, SD = 1.66). Comparisons across the four conditions revealed no significant differences in the perceptions of consistency (p > 1). There also was no difference in the perceptions of extension fit between the new PDA and Sony across conditions (p > 1). Analysis. An ANOVA with cultural prime and motivation as the between-subjects variables centered on the focal attribute of audio quality. The main effects of cultural prime and motivation were not significant (F(1, 101) = .80, p > 1; F(1, 101) = .03, p > 1, respectively). However, consistent with expectations, a significant two-way interaction emerged between cultural prime and motivation (F(1, 101) = 9.83, p < 01) (see Figure 1).6 Contrasts showed that participants in the Chinese prime condition rated Sony much lower in audio quality when their motivation was high (M = 3.71, SE = .19) than when their motivation was 5These cultural values reflect those typically used to assess selfconstrual (i.e., independent versus interdependent self) and cultural orientation (i.e., individualism versus collectivism). 6Similar analyses of the three filler attributes did not yield any significant results (p > 1). 192 JOURNAL OF MARKETING RESEARCH, FEBRUARY 2010 Figure 1 IMPACT OF CULTURAL PRIMES ANDMOTIVATION ON BRAND EVALUATION 0 .5 1 1.5 2 2.5 3 3.5 4 4.5 5 U.S. Prime Chinese Prime Rating of Sony’s Audio Quality Low motivation High motivation low (M = 4.32, SE = .18; F(1, 103) = 5.44, p < 05). Participants in the U.S. prime condition revealed lower ratings of Sony’s audio quality when their motivation was low (M = 3.55, SE = .19) than when their motivation was high (M = 4.14, SE = .19; F(1, 103) = 4.35, p < 05), consistent with this study’s predictions. Although the two-way interaction was noteworthy, it provided no insight about whether dilution occurred. The manipulation might have increased the attitudes of all participants, with a greater increase in one condition than in another. A more stringent test for dilution effects would determine whether people in the experimental conditions rated Sony lower in audio quality than those in the control condition, in which the participants did not see any priming or motivation manipulation. The comparison of participants’ beliefs about Sony’s audio quality in all four experimental conditions with those in the control group (M = 4.73, SE = .25) showed significant dilution in the Chinese prime–high motivation condition (Mcontrol group = 102, SE = .32; p < 05, confidence intervals [CIs] = .24 and 1.80) and in the U.S. prime–low motivation condition (Mcontrol group = 118, SE = .32; p < 01, CIs = .40 and 1.96). However, the attitudes of those in the Chinese prime– low motivation and U.S. prime–high motivation conditions were not significantly lower than those of the control group mean (both p > 1). Thus, dilution occurred only in the Chinese prime–high motivation and U.S. prime–low motivation conditions.7 Process evidence. To investigate whether the dilution occurred as a result of the differential treatment of contradictory information, two independent judges coded the 7An ANOVA of the overall brand evaluations assessed whether dilution at the attribute level filters down to affect participants’ evaluations of the brand. No significant main effect or interaction effect was found (p > 1). participants’ thought data for the extent to which they tried to reconcile the information in the review with their prior knowledge about Sony. Participants fell into two categories: those who tried to reconcile the information and those who focused primarily on the information in the review. The two judges agreed 94% of the time and resolved any differences through discussion. Analysis of the thought data showed a significant difference across the four conditions (2 = 746, p < 01). More participants in the U.S. prime– low motivation condition indicated that they focused primarily on the information from the review (n = 21) than those in the U.S. prime–high motivation condition (n = 9). Participants in the U.S. prime–high motivation condition instead showed a greater desire to reconcile the information in the review with their existing brand beliefs. The reverse was true in the Chinese prime conditions: More participants in the Chinese prime–high motivation condition indicated that they focused primarily on the information from the review (n = 17) than those (n = 9) in the low motivation condition. Thus, the pattern of results supported the study predictions. Impact on choice behavior. Finally, to examine whether the dilution affected actual purchase behavior, participants’ choice of MP3 player was analyzed. A chi-square test of the number of people who picked the Sony MP3 player versus the Creative Zen MP3 player showed a significant difference across conditions (2 = 784, p < 01). More participants in the U.S. prime–high motivation condition picked the Sony MP3 player n = 20 than those in the U.S. prime– low motivation condition n = 11. However, more participants in the Chinese prime–low motivation condition picked the Sony MP3 player n = 22 than those in the Chinese prime–high motivation condition n = 9. Therefore, dilution filtered down to affect participants’ subsequent product choices. Discussion The results from this study provide support for the proposition that Easterners and Westerners differ in the way they process extension failure information and that this effect is moderated by their level of motivation. Specifically, for Western-primed participants, dilution is greatest when motivation is low, but for Eastern-primed participants, dilution is greatest when motivation is high. The findings from the thought data also offer evidence with regard to the process explanation; that is, the differential way Easterners and Westerners treat conflicting information leads to cross-cultural differences in brand dilution effects. This result is intriguing, especially for Eastern-primed participants, because it contrasts with the general assumption that people take all pieces of information into account only when their motivation is high. Although the Study 1 findings support H1a and H1b, this study suffers from several shortcomings. First, the investigation successfully primed the participants’ cultural orientation, but it remains unclear which dimension of culture drives these effects. The participants could differ on a multitude of cultural dimensions. Because the difference in processing styles is argued to affect the way people react to the conflicting information, Study 2 addresses this limitation by manipulating participants’ processing styles directly. Cultural Orientation and Brand Dilution 193 Second, there is a potential alternative explanation for the Study 1 findings. Easterners exhibit a different pattern of results, perhaps because they deal with conflicting information differently. However, it also is possible that Easterners and Westerners deal with conflicting information similarly, but a difference in the perceived diagnosticity of the information drives the results. For Easterners, the role of the parent brand may be more diagnostic, such that they rely on parent brand equity only when they have low motivation. When their motivation is higher, they take into account all information and therefore exhibit greater dilution. Although the thought data in Study 1 appear to support the initial explanation, more evidence could rule out the alternative explanation. Therefore, in Study 2, extension typicality is manipulated. How can manipulation of typicality determine the accuracy of the two explanations? The two process explanations make slightly different predictions in contexts that include extension typicality. If Easterners consider more information when their motivation is low, when the extension is typical, they should exhibit greater dilution when their motivation is high (H2a. When the extension is atypical, greater dilution should occur when motivation is low than when motivation is high (H2b. The alternative explanation makes the opposite prediction: If Easterners, similar to Westerners, take into account only diagnostic information when they experience low motivation, and they differ only in the type of information they perceive to be more diagnostic (e.g., brand name), when they have information that is highly diagnostic (e.g., failure of a very typical extension), they should behave like Westerners and rely on this information as well. In this situation, Easterners should exhibit greater dilution in low motivation (than in high motivation) conditions. In contrast, when the extension is atypical, they should exhibit greater dilution in high motivation (than in low motivation) conditions. STUDY 2 Method Study 2 aimed to fulfill two objectives: to examine whether consumers behave differently when the extension is typical (versus atypical) and to replicate the findings from Study 1 with a direct manipulation of the participants’ processing styles. Participants anddesign. One hundred nineteen students from a Singaporean university received $5 each to participate in this study, which involved a 2 (processing style: analytic versus holistic)×2 (motivation: low versus high)× 2 (extension typicality: typical versus atypical) betweensubjects design. The definition of typicality referred to product category similarity. All factors were manipulated, and participants were randomly assigned to each condition. Seven conditions had 15 participants, and one condition had 14 participants. Procedure and stimuli. To activate their different processing styles, participants received a short description of a trip to the city; they were told to circle all the pronouns in the text (Kuhnen, Hannover, and Schubert 2001; Monga ¯ and John 2007). Participants in the analytic condition circled pronouns that represented the independent self (e.g., I, me), whereas those in the holistic condition circled pronouns that represented an interdependent self (e.g., we, us). Because self-views are related to processing styles, by activating different self-views, this manipulation should be able to activate the related processing styles (Kuhnen, Hannover, ¯ and Schubert 2001; Monga and John 2007). Next, participants read a consumer report about a new product that Nokia recently introduced. Nokia is the focal brand in this study because a pretest showed that, in general, people have positive attitudes toward this brand (M = 596). It also is strongly associated with cell phones, and its camera function induces positive perceptions of the excellent pictures it produces. To identify appropriate extension products for this study, a pretest preceded the actual experiment. To examine how holistic and analytic processors view failure in typical and atypical extensions, this study needed products for which there is no difference in the typicality perceptions across both groups of respondents. Of the 40 participants recruited for the pretest, half received the holistic processing style manipulation, and the other half considered the analytic processing style manipulation. After the manipulation, participants indicated the extent to which they believed a list of 15 products were similar to Nokia’s existing products and that the products fit Nokia’s brand image. The pretest revealed products perceived as both typical and atypical by both groups of participants. An Internet phone that allows people to engage in video conferencing online is the atypical extension (7 = “highly typical,” holistic processor = 3.97, analytic processor = 4.26; no significant difference across conditions). A cell phone with the latest camera functions, such as an image stabilizer, is the typical extension (holistic processor = 6.43, analytic processor = 6.12; no significant difference across conditions). The product review offered participants information about the extension on four attributes: exterior, user friendliness, software, and camera picture quality. Picture quality was the focal attribute; the other three attributes were filler attributes. The product received negative ratings on picture quality and user friendliness and neutral ratings for the other two attributes. After reading the review, participants rated Nokia and the extended product on the list of attributes, as well as the perceived typicality of the new product. Finally, they completed a list of manipulation checks and demographic items before being debriefed. Results Manipulation checks. To confirm the success of the processing style manipulation, participants responded to a list of six questions that measured the extent to which they believe things in life are related (e.g., “Everything in the universe is somehow related to each other,” “The whole is greater than the sum of its parts”). This test is consistent with the argument that holistic processors tend to pay more attention to the field and perceive interrelationships among things (Nisbett et al. 2001). The scale demonstrated good reliability ( = 75), and the ANOVA of the mean of the scale showed that the manipulation was successful. Participants in the holistic processing condition were more likely to believe that everything in the universe is highly related 194 JOURNAL OF MARKETING RESEARCH, FEBRUARY 2010 (M = 558, SE = 11) than those in the analytic processing condition (M = 498, SE = 11; F(1, 111) = 1394, p < 01). The manipulation checks also showed that the motivation manipulation was successful. Participants in the low motivation condition indicated significantly lower levels of motivation (M = 432, SE = 14) than those in the high motivation condition (M = 494, SE = 15; F(1, 111) = 935, p < 01). Finally, to check the typicality manipulation, participants’ ratings of the typicality of the two extension products were analyzed. The results show that the manipulation was successful (F(1, 111) = 2739, p < 01): Those in the low typicality condition rated the extended product significantly lower in terms of typicality than those in the high typicality condition (Mlow = 419, SE = 16; Mhigh = 622, SE = 16). There was no difference in the typicality perceptions for the two processing style conditions. Attribute evaluation. Similar to previous studies, a 2×2×2 ANOVA was run. The results show a significant main effect of processing style (F(1, 111) = 442, p < 05) and a three-way interaction among processing style, motivation, and product typicality (F(1, 111) = 2321, p < 01) (see Figure 2). No other effects were significant. Further probes into the three-way interaction revealed that the twoway interactions in both the high typicality (F(1, 111) = 1844, p < 01) and the low typicality (F(1, 111) = 503, p < 05) conditions were significant. Specifically, when typicality was high, participants in the analytic processing condition rated Nokia’s picture quality significantly less favorably when their motivation was low (M = 336, SE = 26) than when their motivation was high (M = 450, SE = 26; F(1, 111) = 1106, p < 01). In contrast, participants in the holistic processing condition rated Nokia significantly less favorably when their motivation was high (M = 411, SE = 26) than when their motivation was low (M = 500, SE = 26; F(1, 111) = 662, p < 05). The reverse findings emerge when typicality was low. That is, in the low typicality condition, participants in the analytic processing condition rated Nokia’s picture quality less favorably when their motivation was high (M = 396, SE = 26) than when their motivation was low (M = 469, SE = 26; F(1, 111) = 442, p < 05). Participants in the holistic condition exhibited no significant differences in their ratings of Nokia’s picture quality (Mlow = 453, SE = 26; Mhigh = 491, SE = 26; p > 1). However, the means are directionally consistent with the predictions. Overall, the pattern of results is consistent with expectations. Discussion The findings from Study 2 support the hypotheses that the typicality of an extension affects the degree of dilution exhibited by Easterners and Westerners. The findings also provide evidence contrary to the alternative explanation that the results obtained in Study 1 were a function of Easterners’ reliance on parent brand equity in the low motivation condition. STUDY 3 Method The objective of Study 3 is to examine what happens when Easterners and Westerners receive nonconflicting Figure 2 EFFECT OF EXTENSION TYPICALITY, MOTIVATION, AND PROCESSING STYLES ON BRANDEVALUATIONS B: For an Atypical Extension 2.5 3 3.5 4 4.5 5 5.5 Analytic Holistic Processing Style Rating of Nokia’s Picture Quality Low motivation High motivation 2.5 3 3.5 4 4.5 5 5.5 A: For a Typical Extension Analytic Holistic Processing Style Rating of Nokia’s Picture Quality Low motivation High motivation information. Participants consider information about either an extension success (congruent, positive attribute information) or an extension failure (incongruent, negative attribute information) by Dell. In contrast to the extension failure, information about a successful extension by a positive brand should be consistent with parent brand beliefs, such that no differences are expected in brand beliefs across priming conditions (H3. Participants anddesign. One hundred seventeen students from a Singaporean university participated in this study for partial fulfillment of course credit. A 2 (cultural prime: U.S. versus Chinese) × 2 (motivation: low versus high)×2 (brand extension: success versus failure) betweensubjects design was run, with all factors manipulated and participants randomly assigned to each condition. Three Cultural Orientation and Brand Dilution 195 conditions contained 14 participants, and five conditions each had 15 participants. In addition, another 15 students served as the control group. Extension typicality remained constant across all the conditions. Stimuli. In this study, Dell is the focal brand. The pretests showed that, in general, people have favorable attitudes toward Dell (M = 52). The product extension pertains to digital cameras. Dell is not currently in the digital camera market, but this extension is believable because many computer firms market digital cameras. Moreover, digital cameras increasingly represent technology or computerrelated products. Both Chinese-primed and U.S.-primed pretest participants perceived digital cameras as similar to Dell’s existing products (7 = “very similar,” MUS = 57, MChinese = 59). Procedure. The procedure for this study is similar to that described for Studies 1 and 2. Participants viewed the priming collage before the motivation and branding manipulations. The study manipulation indicated that Dell was planning to introduce a new product, a digital camera, to the market. The focal attribute was picture quality, which is an important attribute for digital cameras and relevant to aspects of Dell’s brand image. Three other attributes (customization, user friendliness, and price) masked the attribute of interest. Of the four attributes, two attributes (picture quality and user friendliness) were manipulated to create an enhancement or dilution condition.8 The other two attributes were neutral, that is, neither positive nor negative. To manipulate brand enhancement and brand dilution, participants were told that the product performed either better or worse than other models in the market on the two attributes. For example, in the brand enhancement condition, the text indicated the following: Dell Digito delivers excellent picture quality, richer in color saturation, and clearer than other models in the market. It combines the power of a 3x optical zoom lens, a 3.2 megapixel CCD, and advanced photo enhancing technique that makes the pictures sharper and more vibrant relative to those taken by other models. The participants in the brand dilution condition instead read the following: Dell Digito delivers moderate picture quality. The color saturation is not as rich and the picture is not as clear as other models in the market. Even though it is equipped with a 3x optical zoom lens, a 3.2 megapixel CCD and advanced photo enhancing technique, the pictures are not as sharp and vibrant as those taken by other models. 8The user-friendliness variable in the brand enhancement condition indicated, “Although Dell Digito comes with a range of automatic preset shooting modes, it is not as user-friendly as the other models in the market. The complicated user interface means you would have to spend much time learning how to use the camera. Not good for novice users or anyone looking for a point-and-shoot camera with extra features.” In the brand dilution condition, it read, “Dell Digito also comes with a range of automatic preset shooting modes that makes it more user-friendly than other models in the market. The uncomplicated user interface means you won’t spend much time learning how to use the camera. Perfect for novice users or anyone looking for a point-and-shoot camera with extra features.” The 30 participants in the pretest viewed the information in the brand dilution condition as more incongruent with Dell’s image (M = 50, SE = 23) than the information in the brand enhancement condition (M = 28, SE = 25; F(1, 29) = 356, p < 05). After reading the review, participants rated Dell and the new camera on each attribute, the perceived typicality of digital cameras, and the congruity of the information provided with Dell’s image. Finally, they provided their thoughts about the review and their responses to the manipulation checks, as well as demographic information. Results Manipulation andconfounding check. The manipulation checks showed that the motivation manipulation was successful. A full-factorial analysis indicated that only the main effect of motivation was significant (Mlow = 308, SE = 27; Mhigh = 413, SE = 28; F(1, 109) = 735, p < 01). No other effects were significant (p > 1). An ANOVA also showed that the priming manipulation was successful (F(1, 109) = 2408, p < 01). Participants in the U.S. prime condition listed significantly more Western politicians (M = 228, SE = 14) than Eastern politicians (M = 72, SE = 14). Those in the Chinese prime condition listed significantly more Eastern politicians (M = 188, SE = 14) than Western politicians (M = 112, SE = 14). No other effects were significant (p > 1). Tests of participants’ ratings of whether the extended product fits the brand’s existing product categories also indicated no significant difference across conditions (p > 1). Results. As expected, a 2 × 2 × 2 ANOVA revealed a significant main effect of brand extension (F(1, 108) = 2395, p < 001). Participants in the enhancement condition (M = 472, SE = 14) rated the parent brand significantly higher on picture quality than those in the dilution condition (M = 372, SE = 15). The results also showed a significant three-way interaction for picture quality (F(1, 109) = 578, p < 05) (see Figure 3).9 All other main effects and interaction effects were not significant (p > 1). To decipher the three-way interaction, the interaction effects of brand enhancement and brand dilution conditions were examined separately. Specifically, the two-way interaction between culture and motivation was not significant in the brand enhancement condition (F(1, 109) = 81, p > 1). In both priming conditions, evaluations of Dell’s picture quality were higher in the high motivation condition (MUS = 481, SE = 27; MChinese = 504, SE = 26) than in the low motivation condition (MUS = 464, SE = 26; MChinese = 440, SE = 26). Compared with the control group (M = 431, SE = 20), both groups of participants rated the parent brand significantly higher in picture quality in the high motivation condition, which indicates an enhancement effect (U.S.: Mcontrol group = 51, SE = 31; one-tailed p < 05, CIs = −12 and 1.13; Chinese: Mcontrol group = 74, SE = 31; p < 05, CIs = 13 and 1.36). The enhancement effects were not significant in the low motivation conditions (both p > 1). 9The corresponding interactions for the control attributes—customization, user friendliness, and price—were not significant (p > 1). 196 JOURNAL OF MARKETING RESEARCH, FEBRUARY 2010 Figure 3 ASYMMETRIC EFFECT OF BRANDENHANCEMENT AND BRANDDILUTION 2.5 3 3.5 4 4.5 5 U.S. Prime Chinese Prime Rating of Dell’s Quality Low motivation High motivation 3.5 4 4.5 5 5.5 6 U.S. Prime Chinese Prime Rating of Dell’s Quality Low motivation High motivation B: When Extension Fails (Brand Dilution) A: When Extension Succeeds (Brand Enhancement) Replicating the results from Studies 1 and 2, the twoway interaction between culture and motivation was significant in the brand dilution condition (F(1, 109) = 570, p < 05). The planned contrasts showed that in the U.S. prime condition, dilution was more extreme with low motivation (M = 351, SE = 27) than with high motivation (M = 412, SE = 28; F(1, 112) = 305, p < 05). However, in the Chinese prime condition, dilution was more extreme with high motivation (M = 319, SE = 28) than with low motivation (M = 407, SE = 28; F(1, 112) = 627, p < 05). Consistent with the findings from Study 1, significant dilution occurred only in the U.S. prime–low motivation condition (Mcontrol group = 79, SE = 35; p < 05, CIs = 10 and 1.49) and the Chinese prime–high motivation condition (Mcontrol group = 111, SE = 36; p < 01, CIs = 40 and 1.83). The other two comparisons were not significant (both with p > 1), in support of the hypotheses. Discussion The results from this study replicate the brand dilution findings in Studies 1 and 2. The cross-over interaction from the brand dilution condition did not occur in the brand enhancement condition (i.e., when information is congruent), which signals a certain degree of asymmetry in brand dilution and enhancement effects across cultures. In addition, the lack of cross-cultural differences in the brand enhancement (or information-congruent) condition supports the argument that the mechanism driving the cross-cultural difference in brand dilution effects is differences in the ways Easterners and Westerners evaluate incongruent information. GENERAL DISCUSSION A brand extension is an effective way for firms to leverage their brand’s equity (Keller 2003). Extant literature has documented various benefits of engaging in brand extensions (e.g., Aaker and Keller 1990; Boush and Loken 1991), but there are both pros and cons of extending a brand to new categories. The peril of brand extension is the potential dilution of a brand’s equity, should an extension fail (Loken and John 1993). This study examines whether culture influences brand dilution effects using investigations with bicultural respondents, which document systematic differences in the way people with a more Eastern orientation, compared with those with a more Western orientation, evaluate brand extension failure information. Specifically, Study 1 shows that when a typical extension fails, Easterners exhibit significantly greater dilution effects when their motivation is high than when their motivation is low. This effect may emerge because Easterners who are low in motivation are chronically more likely to integrate the negative information into their existing brand schema. However, when motivation is high, they scrutinize the information in greater detail and place greater weight on the negative information, which is more diagnostic. However, for Westerners, a failure in a typical extension causes those who are low in motivation to focus only on the diagnostic negative information, whereas those with high motivation pay attention to all the information presented. This difference leads to greater brand dilution in low motivation conditions. Building on the results of Study 1, Study 2 replicates the brand dilution results and shows a reverse pattern when the extension is atypical. Study 3 further shows that in the event of a brand extension success, both Easterners and Westerners behave similarly. Altogether, the findings from these three studies indicate that extension failure has differential effects across cultures. Therefore, they offer significant theoretical and managerial contributions to branding and cross-cultural literature. Theoretical Implications Theoretically, this study contributes on three fronts. First, as extensions of prior research, the findings from the three studies provide further evidence that Easterners treat conflicting information differently than Westerners, which has important implications in a marketing context. Prior cross-cultural psychology literature provides some evidence that Easterners treat conflicting information differently than Westerners (e.g., Bagozzi, Wong, and Yi 1999; Peng and Cultural Orientation and Brand Dilution 197 Nisbett 1999), but it is unclear if such processing differences affect how consumers process marketing information. The only exception is research by Aaker and Sengupta (2000), who examine this issue in a marketing context. Second, examining cross-cultural differences in the way people process conflicting information is a new addition to brand dilution literature. Traditionally, brand dilution literature has examined this issue from a categorization perspective, with the assumption that new products that may be grouped in the same category as existing products would prompt favorable views but that the parent brand also becomes more vulnerable to extension failure. This study’s findings bring a new perspective to this issue by showing that independent of categorization, the way a person processes incongruent information is important. A person who is chronically more likely to take into account all pieces of information exhibits a different level of brand dilution than one who focuses only on diagnostic information. By manipulating extension typicality, the studies further show that differences in cue diagnosticity across cultures cannot explain this effect. However, it is important to qualify that the relative strength of each cue (e.g., reputation, attribute) is not manipulated, so further research should examine what happens if consumers from different cultures see cues of varying diagnosticity. Third, this research builds on previous findings in brand dilution literature by identifying an important variable that moderates the extent to which brand dilution effects occur. Significant research on the topic of brand dilution identifies several notable factors that moderate brand dilution effects (e.g., Ahluwalia and Gurhan-Canli 2000; Loken and John 1993). Implicitly, the same brand dilution processes and findings should be applicable to other cultures. Yet recent findings in cross-cultural literature show that this assumption is not necessarily true. Cross-cultural differences in information processing occur in various domains, and it seems naive to assume that the same brand dilution process would be universal. Managerial Implications Implications for brandmanagement. These results have important implications for brand managers operating in a global world. As companies increasingly rely on foreign markets for growth, managers need a better understanding of whether the branding strategies they use at home can transfer to other cultures. Marketing strategies must be localized to sell in foreign markets, but the more difficult question is which marketing strategies should be modified and how. This issue transcends industries. The results herein provide some insights into these issues, including the important implication that firms selling highinvolvement products in Eastern markets (e.g., China) should adopt a different branding strategy than those selling low-involvement products. For example, among Easterners, the brand dilution effect is stronger when the extension is typical and the motivation level is high, so firms selling high-involvement products should be judicious when engaging in close brand extensions. They also should recognize that if an extended product fails, the potential negative feedback effect may be fairly strong. For risky product introductions, other branding strategies (e.g., subbranding, individual branding) may be more beneficial. This recommendation is particularly significant with regard to the brand enhancement results. Though not discussed, the findings from Study 3 exhibit an asymmetry in the brand dilution and brand enhancement effects across cultures. Unlike the results for brand dilution effects, Easterners and Westerners demonstrate similar patterns for brand enhancement. For Easterners, the brand dilution and brand enhancement effects also differ in their magnitude. Further analysis of the results in Study 3 reveals that though both brand enhancement and brand dilution effects are significant among highly motivated Easterners, the difference between the mean in the brand enhancement condition and that for the control group is only .56, whereas the difference between the mean in the brand dilution condition and that for the control group is 1.18. This discrepancy seems to suggest that in Eastern cultures, for high-involvement products, introducing a new product under the family brand will lead to some enhancement in brand equity if the product succeeds, but it will lead to relatively greater dilution of brand equity if the new product fails. This observation argues against brand extensions for high-involvement products. However, these recommendations only take into account the impact of extension success and failure on the parent brand. This research does not examine the impact of brand name on the way Eastern consumers evaluate brand extensions. In making brand extension decisions, companies should weigh the benefits of a new product introduction with an existing family brand against the cost of the potential brand dilution in the event of an extension failure. To the extent that the benefits of introducing new products under existing brands outweigh the potential risks of brand dilution, it would be beneficial to engage in brand extension. Further investigations could clarify when the benefits of brand extension would outweigh the risks of brand dilution. Other marketing implications. The evidence that Easterners and Westerners process conflicting information differently also has important implications for marketing communications strategies. Though not examined in this research, such processing differences may affect how consumers treat negative information about a positive brand. For example, in the event of a public relations crisis (e.g., quality control failure by a favored brand leads to consumer harm), Easterners and Westerners should treat such information differently. If the issue is severe, Easterners who are highly motivated (e.g., if the issue is personally relevant) may exhibit a more negative attitude toward the company than those who are less motivated. In contrast, Westerners who are highly motivated may exhibit a less negative attitude toward the company than those who are less motivated. Limitations andFurther Research Several limitations of these studies suggest avenues for further research. First, all the participants in the studies came from a bicultural society. 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샤론 NG
이 연구는 브랜드 희석의 문화 간 차이를 조사합니다.
효과 및 동기 부여 및 확장 전형성의 조절 역할.
사람들이 상충되는 정보를 다루는 방식에 문화가 영향을 미친다는 최근 연구 결과를 바탕으로 이 연구는 동양인과
서양인들은 브랜드 확장에 의한 실패에 다르게 반응합니다. 대조적으로
일반적인 확장의 실패를 제안한 이전 연구 결과에
동기 부여가 높을 때 서양인의 브랜드 희석이 적습니다.
(의욕이 덜할 때보다), 이 연구는 동양인이
의욕이 덜할 때 더 큰 브랜드 희석을 나타냅니다.
그들은 매우 의욕적입니다). 결과의 반대 패턴이 나타나야 합니다.
확장이 비정형인 경우. 3가지 연구가 이들을 뒷받침합니다.
예측 및 기본 프로세스.
키워드: 브랜드 희석, 문화, 자기 해석, 동기 부여, 확장
전형성
문화적 지향과 브랜드 희석:
동기 부여 수준의 영향 및
확장 전형
브랜드 확장 또는 신제품 출시
기존의 브랜드 이름을 사용하는 것이 하나의 전략입니다.
기업은 브랜드의 영업권을 활용합니다(Aaker and Keller 1990;
부시와 로켄 1991). 이 전략은 기업이
훨씬 낮은 위험과 비용으로 신제품을 출시하십시오.
시장에서 브랜드 확장의 확산
기업이 이 전략에 부여하는 가치를 입증합니다. 그러나 브랜드 확장 전략을 사용하는 데 단점이 없는 것은 아닙니다. 성공적인 브랜드 확장은
브랜드의 가치, 그 반대도 마찬가지입니다.
연장된 제품 실패, 부정적인 영향 또는 연관성
상위 브랜드로 다시 필터링하여 생성할 수 있습니다.
자산을 "희석"(Loken and John 1993; Milberg, Park,
및 매카시 1997). 따라서 기업은 다음과 같은 경우 주의해야 합니다.
브랜드 확장 결정을 내리고 문화와 같은 다양한 요소가 확장 성공 및 실패에 대한 소비자의 반응에 어떻게 영향을 미칠 수 있는지 이해합니다.
실무자와 연구원 모두 다음을 인정합니다.
문화가 미치는 영향을 이해하는 것의 중요성
*Sharon Ng는 Nanyang Business의 마케팅 부교수입니다.
학교, 난양 기술 대학 (이메일: angsl@ntu.edu.sg).
저자는 Nanyang Business의 재정적 지원을 인정합니다.
도움을 주신 익명의 JMR 검토자 두 분에게 감사드립니다.
코멘트. 저자는 Akshay Rao와 Michael J. Houston에게도 감사드립니다.
이 기사의 이전 초안에 대한 통찰력 있는 의견에 감사드립니다. 특별한
초기에 그녀의 조언과 멘토십에 대해 Barbara Loken에게 감사드립니다.
이 연구의 일부. Ziv Carmon은 이 기사의 부편집장을 역임했습니다.
브랜딩 전략의 효과. 개수
해외 시장에 진출한 미국 기업
기하급수적으로 증가하고 있으며 성공적인 해외시장 진출을 위해서는 충분한 이해가 필요합니다.
문화가 사람들의 구매 행동에 미치는 영향.
마케팅 관리자가 직면한 근본적인 문제는 어떻게
다른 문화권의 소비자들은 다양한 브랜딩에 반응한다.
전략. 이 연구에서 나는 이 중 한 측면을 조사한다.
문화가 사람들의 반응에 어떻게 영향을 미치는지 조사함으로써
브랜드 확장 실패.
다문화 문헌의 최근 연구 결과에 따르면 문화 간 사람들은 정보를 유사하게 처리하지 않습니다.
특히 동양인(예: 중국인)은 불일치에 더 관대합니다. 상충되는 두 가지 정보에 직면했을 때 그들은 중간 위치를 찾는 것을 선호합니다.
두 가지 정보를 모두 고려하여 반대로 서양인(예: 미국인)은
불일치를 해결하십시오. 그들은 집중할 가능성이 더 높습니다
다른 정보를 제외하고 정보의 한 부분만
그러한 상황에서 조각하십시오(Nisbett et al. 2001). 이 발견은 동양인과 서양인이 브랜드 확장 실패 정보를 평가하는 방식에 차이가 있음을 시사합니다. 왜?
시장에서 확장된 대부분의 브랜드는
적어도 적당히 긍정적인 브랜드 이미지, 그래서
확장이 실패하면 부정적인 정보가
브랜드의 긍정적인 이미지. 동양인과 서양인이 다르다면
상충되는 정보를 처리하는 방식에서 그들은 또한
브랜드 희석 효과에 대한 인식이 달라야 합니다.
이 주장은 이전 연구 결과와 일치합니다.
© 2010, 미국 마케팅 협회
ISSN: 0022-2437(인쇄), 1547-7193(전자) 186 Journal of Marketing Research
Vol. XLVII(2010년 2월), 186–198
문화적 성향과 브랜드 희석 187
확장 실패가 브랜드 자산에 미치는 영향은 다음에 따라 달라집니다.
확장 제품과 모 브랜드의 일관성, 동기 수준, 정보와 같은 기타 요소
접근성 및 진단성, 기업의 브랜딩 전략(Ahluwalia 및 Gurhan-Canli 2000; Gurhan-Canli 및
마헤스와란 1998; John, Loken 및 Joiner 1998; 로켄
및 John 1993; 밀버그, 박, 매카시 1997). 이러한 발견을 바탕으로 저는 문화가 또 다른
에 중요한 변수
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