In this paper, we use a series of experimental studies to show that consumers’ response to the extension of a brand associated with a basic versus a sub-category depends on the closeness of the brand's parent and extension categories. When the two categories are close, consumers respond more favorably to the extension of a brand with a basic category concept, but the pattern reverses when the categories are far apart. However, a brand with a basic category concept can mitigate its disadvantage in a distant category by first launching an intervening line extension. Our results suggest that brands with sub-category concepts are not limited in their ability to extend, and can help retailers meet the twin objectives of leveraging the high growth of specialized categories and rationalizing their brand portfolio. They also suggest that managers should aim to extend brands with sub-category concepts into distant categories where the modifier in the brand concept is relevant rather than into close categories.

在本文中，我们使用一系列实验研究来表明消费者对与基本类别和子类别相关联的品牌延伸的反应取决于品牌的父类别和延伸类别的接近程度。当两个品类接近时，消费者对具有基本品类概念的品牌的延伸反应更积极，但当品类相距较远时，情况会发生逆转。然而，具有基本品类概念的品牌可以通过首先推出介入性的产品线延伸来减轻其在遥远品类中的劣势。我们的结果表明，具有子类别概念的品牌在扩展能力方面不受限制，并且可以帮助零售商实现利用专业类别的高速增长和合理化其品牌组合的双重目标。