This study examines how brand entitativity and extension valence shape the feedback effects of brand extensions on parent-brand evaluations, with information accessibility and extension similarity functioning as moderating conditions that jointly govern when and how these effects emerge. Drawing on accessibility – diagnosticity theory and group-level trait transference, it is proposed that high-entitativity brands – perceived as unified, coherent entities – are subject to stronger generalization of extension outcomes than low-entitativity brands. Two experimental studies test these predictions across high- and low-accessibility conditions. Under high-accessibility, extension valence dominates: favorable extensions enhance low-entitativity brands more, while unfavorable extensions damage high-entitativity brands more, regardless of extension similarity – producing full asymmetric feedback effects. Under low-accessibility, extension valence loses dominance and similarity emerges as a critical moderator: only unfavorable dissimilar extensions generate asymmetric effects, with high-entitativity brands suffering greater dilution. These findings establish entitativity and accessibility as interacting determinants of reputational spillover, offer a unified account of mixed findings in the feedback effects literature, and highlight that brand structure and information accessibility jointly govern when and how extension outcomes damage or enhance parent brands.
Joseph W. Chang (Fri,) studied this question.