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Past work on the role of brands in the acceptance of organic products is partial and inconclusive. Research has failed to examine the consumer sense-making process underpinning fit assessment, despite the centrality of this assessment in the acceptance of line extensions. This study reconceptualizes the fit construct, showing the relationship of the fit dimensions (noncompensatory) and contributes to the literature with a deeper understanding of the role of a brand's association in the assessment process, which has been poorly examined in the past.

Grounded theory was used to unearth the process followed by consumers to assess the fit of organic line extensions. The study was based on 14 in-depth interviews.

The findings show that the dimensions of fit that consumers consider in assessing organic line extensions depend on the schema used in the assessment process. Moreover, it demonstrates that these dimensions have disparate structural relationships with one another, depending on consumers' previous commitment to organic products. Finally, the paper identifies three possible behavioral reactions by consumers toward organic line extensions.

The main limitation of this research concerns the settings in which it was developed. Therefore, and as stated by Strauss and Corbin (1990) the model applies to the situation analyzed and not to others. Future research could study if there are cultural differences in the assessment process of an organic line extension. Moreover, the contribution presented in this paper needs further empirical testing; specifically, the configuration of dimensions needed to accept an organic line extension and the relationship among dimensions.

This paper contributes to the literature by studying the impact of brand association on assessing an organic line extension and reconceptualizing the fit construct by showing the dimensions and the relationship between them that are not additive to the overall fit, as shown in past literature. Additionally, it provides a guide to brands wishing to launch an organic product using a line extension strategy and the potential implications for the parent brand that should be considered.

The purpose of this study is to explore how event volunteers, athletes and onsite spectators perceive the impact of sport event sponsorship on future purchase intentions of the event sponsor brand.

The research problem was based on propositions by Novais and Arcodia (2013) and proposes relationships between sponsor–event fit, brand attitude, perceived brand quality and sponsor brand purchase intentions. Data were collected from 352 Greek sport event consumers from the 2013 Classic Marathon event, in Athens, Greece, using onsite surveys targeting non-sponsor brand consumer spectators, volunteers and athletes.

The results reveal that sponsor–event fit indirectly influenced sponsor brand purchase intentions via brand attitude and brand quality across all three groups. However, the fit did not directly influence perceived brand quality of the sponsor across all three groups and directly influenced purchase intentions of the athlete group.

Because of the duration of the event (one day), the sample sizes were not very large. In addition, the study was delimited on one sponsor from a single sport event. Therefore, the findings need to be tested with larger samples and additional sponsors and events to arrive to more robust conclusion about the purchase intention formation and its antecedents across multiple sport event consumer groups.

This study explores the power of sponsor–event fit among non-consumers of the sponsor brand and how the “interface” of event consumption through the lenses of three groups, namely, volunteer, spectator and athlete, influences brand attitude, perceived brand quality and sponsor brand purchase intentions.

The purpose of this paper is to examine the effects of brand familiarity and brand fit on purchase intention towards the offerings of co‐branded hotels.

Data were gathered from 198 respondents and two co‐branded hotels in Taiwan were assessed.

The findings showed that the fit between co‐brands mediate the relationship between brand familiarity and purchase intention. In particular, a well‐known co‐branded hotel with a high level of brand fit could directly or indirectly affect consumer decision‐making processes regarding purchase intention towards the co‐brand. Conversely, a less familiar co‐branded hotel had a positive effect on purchase intention only if respondents perceived a good fit between allied brands.

Brand fit could be a more important factor than brand familiarity in influencing the success of hotel co‐branding strategies. Future research to examine the co‐branding concept in different social and cultural contexts and also from different perspectives, such as owners or managers, is recommended.

Most hospitality studies focus on co‐branding between hotels and restaurants. This study empirically investigated the effects of co‐branding on consumer behavior in the hotel sector.

This paper aims to introduce brand identity (BI) fit as an important factor that influences co-branding success. Based on motivated reasoning theory, the authors propose consumer-brand (C-B) identification moderates the effect of BI fit on co-branding attitudes. In addition, they investigate the role of consumer coping and perceived BI fit on consumers’ attitude toward co-branding.

Two experiments were conducted to test the research hypotheses.

Study 1 results reveal that when C-B identification is low, consumers’ co-branding evaluations and the loyalty of the focal brand are higher in the low BI fit condition than those in the high BI fit condition. When C-B identification is high, such effects are not observed. Study 2 results reveal that when the BI fit is low, decoupling is more effective than biased assimilation at defending the positive evaluations of the focal brand.

First, while the authors focus particularly on BI fit, it may be fruitful for marketers to combine BI fit with other types of fit such as functional dimension fit and product category fit. For example, while the results suggest marketers should co-brand with low BI fit pairs when targeting at low C-B identification consumers, this recommendation should be taken in conjunction with how consumers respond to other co-branding fit strategies. Second, the authors encourage future researchers to explore deeper into the consumer coping in other contexts. As these elements are critical to consumers’ attitudes, it will be beneficial to see how decoupling or biased assimilation strategies differ in other co-branding fit contexts.

The authors advise marketers to consider both the level of BI fit and the level of C-B identification when looking for a co-brand partner. When targeting low C-B identification consumers, it is better for marketers to find a co-branding partner with a low BI fit than high BI fit. This is a counterintuitive finding given that higher fit (e.g. product category fit and brand image fit) is often associated with positive evaluations. For high C-B identification consumers, BI fit does not adversely affect consumer attitudes (and loyalty). Thus, these consumers are safer targets for marketers in terms of maintaining attitudes. Second, the authors find that when perceived BI fit is low, decoupling strategy is more effective than biased assimilation strategy at defending the positive evaluations of the focal brand. However, when perceived BI fit is high, the two coping strategies have little difference in influencing co-branding attitudes. Thus, the authors advise marketers to encourage their consumers to cope using a decoupling strategy to garner higher attitudes.

The authors introduce BI fit as an important abstract dimension of brand image fit when facing co-branding decisions. Overall, our results demonstrate C-B identification moderates the effects of BI fit on co-branding attitudes. Counter-intuitively, the results suggest that low BI fit co-branding can also generate higher attitudes depending on consumers’ level of brand identification. Moreover, marketers must also be wary of how consumers cope with co-branding, as coping explains the underlying mechanism of how consumers deal with high or low perceived BI fit. Specifically, our findings suggest that consumer coping moderates the relationship between perceived BI fit and co-branding attitudes.

The purpose of this paper is to examine the underlying mechanism of the spillover effect from a service brand alliance to its parent brand at the post-consumption stage.

Online surveys were used to collect both qualitative and quantitative data from participants of an actual event. Conceptual models were developed and tested on two cross-sectional samples using structural equation modeling.

Results demonstrate perceived brand contribution and consumer involvement mediate the relationship between the service brand alliance experience and the evaluation of its parent brand at the post-consumption stage. While perceived brand fit had an indirect effect on the parent brand, the spillover was mostly driven by service alliance experience and perceived brand contribution.

Findings indicate brand managers should focus on consumers’ brand experience of the service brand alliance to drive spillover evaluations to the parent brand, and organizations could extend brand alliances to services with low category fit to the parent brand if consumers are to have a good experience with the service brand alliance.

This research extends findings on brand alliance research that was based on hypothetical brands and indicated that the spillover effect from a brand alliance to the parent brand is influenced by perceived brand fit. The findings highlight the importance of consumer experiences in driving the spillover effect at the post-consumption stage, where consumers evaluate brand relationships from a value-added perspective that goes beyond the service category fit.

The purpose of this paper is to examine consumer perceptions of a potential sustainable line extension introduced by a specific fast-fashion retailer. Following brand-extension theory, the study seeks to identify the influences of knowledge of and involvement with the cause of sustainability, as well as knowledge and affect toward brand, on the evaluation of a sustainable line extension.

Participation was limited to those with in-store browsing experience with either Zara or H&M in the past 12 months. A self-administered online survey was developed using the written scenario approach. After several screening processes, 598 completed surveys were deemed usable for statistical analysis.

Findings identified significant cause and brand effects on brand-cause fit and brand-extension fit. In turn, brand extension was significantly predicted by brand-cause fit and brand-extension fit. In addition, the results of the study indicated that consumers do view sustainable products as fitting with fast-fashion retailers, based on their previous knowledge and affect regarding the brand and the cause.

This study sought to identify consumers’ perceptions of sustainable brand extension introduced by a fast-fashion retailer. Implications for retailers included leveraging consumers’ past knowledge and affect regarding the brand through marketing of the sustainable product.

The purpose of this study is to investigate the effect of cross-border acquisitions on brand image dimensions (functional, symbolic and global image) of the acquirer brand from a consumer’s perspective.

The authors measured Chinese consumers’ perceptions of eight fictitious cross-border acquisition scenarios and tested the hypotheses by using multiple hierarchical regression.

First, the acquisition significantly improves functional, symbolic and global image of the acquirer brand. Second, both image perceptions of the acquirer and the acquired brands before acquisition significantly impact post-image of the acquirer. The effect is greater for pre-image of the acquirer (dominance effect). Finally, brand fit, product fit and country-of-origin fit influence attitude toward the acquisition significantly.

There are limitations in the generalizations of the findings due to its reliance on a single country (China) and one industry (home appliances).

First, engaging in cross-border acquisitions significantly enhances the brand image of the acquirer brand. The global image has the largest improvement. Second, practitioners should carefully consider different levels of fit before the acquisition.

This study contributes to the extant literature by investigating brand acquisitions from the perspective of home country consumers (acquirer) and integrating multiple brand image dimensions and various levels of fit simultaneously.

The purpose of this paper is to investigate the impact of country-of-origin (COO) fit and consumer product knowledge on consumer brand attitudes in a cross-border strategic brand alliance (SBA).

An experimental study with 207 subjects was conducted using a series of 2 (COO fit: low vs high COO fit) by 3 (product knowledge: low vs moderate vs high knowledge) by 2 (time: pre- vs post-alliance attitudes) mixed factorial design.

The impact of COO fit on pre- and post-alliance changes in attitude toward the partner brand showed a nonlinear relationship from high-, to moderate-, to low-knowledge consumers. High COO fit significantly and positively affected pre- and post-alliance changes in attitude toward the partner brand more for high- and low-knowledge consumers than for moderate-knowledge consumers. In contrast, low COO fit significantly and positively affected pre- and post-alliance changes in attitude toward the partner brand more for moderate-knowledge consumers than for high- and low-knowledge consumers.

The effectiveness of cross-border SBAs differs with consumer product knowledge. For high- and low-knowledge consumers, high COO fit information had greater impact than low COO fit information in their product evaluation. However, when targeting moderate-knowledge consumers, providing sufficient product-related attribute information would help them to generate a favorable brand attitude.

This study attempted to identify the complex relationship between COO fit and consumer product knowledge on the consumer decision-making process.

This study seeks to explore the value of using brand alliances, or co‐branding strategies, to influence consumer perceptions of new brand extensions under circumstances where the firm (parent brand) introduces new products that will be targeted to product categories within which the parent brand has a low initial degree of perceptual fit.

Data were collected through a four‐stage questionnaire administered to 308 subjects. Hypotheses were explored through a four‐level single factor between subjects experimental design.

Analyses suggest that by partnering with brands possessing higher perceived degrees of fit in the extension category (i.e. co‐brand), parent firms' brands can achieve more favorable positions for their extensions than could be realized if firms acted independently. Explained variance in perceptions of the extension increased substantially when perceptions of co‐ and parent‐brand fit were considered. Fit between the co‐brand and the new extension product apparently should be the driving factor in selecting best partnering brands for alliances. Fit between parent and partner brands may take a back seat when forming alliances.

Current co‐branding research typically addresses the ability of brand alliances to improve perceptions of new products bearing the names of both co‐joined brands. “Perceptual fit” and brand attitudes are major constructs thought to influence the ability of brand alliances to achieve this goal. Specifically, in co‐branding applications, perceptual fit is usually conceptualized as the fit between co‐joined brands themselves, rather than fit between each co‐joined brand and the proposed new product for which both has been combined to launch. The paper's original argument is that when one brand (parent or host brand) seeks to co‐brand for purposes of improving its ability to penetrate an untested new product category, fit should be treated from a more traditional brand extension perspective. This argument is supported.

Limited research has explored why and how cause-related marketing on social media influences consumers' responses. Drawing upon balance theory and consistency theory, this study aims to identify the mechanism of cause-related marketing on social media.

Data were collected from a sample of 360 users of cause-related marketing campaigns on social media and analyzed using structural equation modeling in Mplus 8.0.

The three types of congruence – self-image congruence, brand-image congruence and value congruence – can serve as sub-dimensions of perceived fit between a consumer, brand and cause of a cause-related marketing campaign on social media. Importantly, these perceived fit sub-dimensions positively influence community identification and, therefore, influence consumer citizenship behaviors.

The findings provide theoretical and practical contributions for a brand to undertake cause-related marketing on social media.

This study clarifies the myth of the perceived fit of cause-related marketing on social media and examines the perceived fit sub-dimensions’ mechanism of consumers' responses through community identification.