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Little research on brand extension observes the role of technological levels between parent brand and brand extension on consumers' attitudes toward brand extension. The present study aims to explore how consumers evaluate technology‐based brand extension and how technologic direction interacts with brand loyalty and fit in affecting brand extension evaluation.

A field experiment (n=200) was conducted. Participants were assigned to two equal‐number groups that differed in the technological direction of brand extension (i.e. upward extension versus downward extension).

This field study finds that downward brand extension is generally evaluated more favourably due to its positive effect on perceived fit; technological direction moderates the effect of fit on brand extension – fit has stronger positive effect on downward brand extension than on upward brand extension; fit moderates the effect of brand loyalty on brand extension – when fit is high, brand loyalty's effect is positive, whereas when fit is low, brand loyalty can have negative effect on brand extension; and the moderating effect of fit on brand loyalty is further moderated by technological direction of brand extension – for upward brand extension, the moderating effect of fit on brand loyalty is as general, but for downward brand extension, fit enhances the effect of brand loyalty.

The results lend significant new insights to brand extension research by showing that the effect of brand loyalty on brand extension is moderated not only by fit but also by technological direction, and that the moderating effect of fit on brand loyalty's effect on brand extension is further dependent on the technological direction.

For the management of upward brand extension – where a lower‐tech brand extends to a high‐tech product, more care and caution should be taken, since brand loyalty could have a negative effect if the upward brand extension is not perceived to fit the parent brand image. Thus, it becomes extremely important to manage the fit between the lower‐tech parent brand and the higher‐tech extended product.

This is one of few studies examining the effect of technology on brand extension. The major original finding of this study is that the effect of brand loyalty on brand extension is moderated by fit, whose moderating fit is further moderated by technologic direction of brand extension.

The purpose of this paper is to explore the impact of a firm's innovation activities on performance, and focus on the internal fit and external fit of two types of innovation activities – exploratory innovation and exploitative innovation.

The paper adopts the survey data of 397 enterprises in eastern, middle, and western China. The business strategy attributes analysis based on strategic orientation of business enterprises (STROBE) scale was used to classify the business strategy types, and hierarchical regression analyses were employed to test the hypotheses.

The results show: both exploratory innovation and exploitative innovation have a positive effect on firm performance; the internal fit between exploratory innovation and exploitative innovation, whether it is fit as moderating or fit as matching, has no significant effect on firm performance; the fit between innovation activity and firm business strategy has significant effect on firm performance, therefore, exploratory innovation activity fits defenders and exploitative innovation activity fits prospectors; and the fit between the innovation activity and external environment has a slight effect on firm performance. Environmental competitiveness can enhance exploratory innovation outcome but diminish exploitative innovation outcome.

The paper has supplied the empirical evidence discovered in the context of China to the theoretical views of exploratory innovation and exploitative innovation, and achieved some results which differ from the ones drawn by similar researches done abroad.

Recent research on the internationalization–performance (IP) relationship has suggested that many of the different results can be explained by the role of moderating factors. This paper explores the hitherto underemphasized role of strategic fit between organizational structure on the one hand and industry pressures towards integration and responsiveness on the other hand. We suggest a new way of measuring organizational structure (and consequently strategic fit), based on archival data rather than questionnaires, and include these measures in our regression analysis on a sample of 332 Fortune companies.We find that strategic fit positively affects performance and moderates the shape, size and direction of the internationalization–performance relationship.

The purpose of this paper is to contribute to the existing knowledge about joint ventures (JV) by modeling the interactional strength of fit between JV partners. The paper integrates different constructs from three theoretical perspectives most widely used in JV studies – trust and commitment from the relational perspective; opportunism and specific investments from the transaction cost perspective; and assesses the moderating role of fit from the contingency perspective.

Quantitative data from JVs were collected using the survey method. Relationships in the moderated mediation model were tested using complex sets of hierarchical regression steps.

Relational intentions of partners influence specific investments between the partners. The two together drive JV performance and their impact is moderated by the extent of fit between the partners. Thus, it is concluded that the strength of fit, as perceived by partners, influences the role of other constructs from the relational, transactional and contingency perspectives, which together can help us understand performance of JVs better.

An assessment of longitudinal view of the relational variables and subsequent performance can be captured in future. This research assesses fit based on compatibility, which assesses similarity as well as complementarity, primarily by way of harmony in different aspects. Future research could differentiate complementarity from similarity to further assess the impact of fit.

The relational behavior of JV partners, or their rational approaches to resource seeking, will be optimally effective only when the fit between partner characteristics is high. While the relational or transactional approaches can evolve in JVs, the partners should assess the extent of fit before getting into a JV relationship.

The research presents a holistic framework that draws from various theoretical perspectives. The results establish that contrary to its peripheral treatment in the literature, fit plays an important role and can modify the influence relational variables and specific investments can have on the performance of JVs.

The purpose of this paper is to build on previous studies on the link between objective and subjective person-organization fit (P-O fit) and argue that the strength between objective and subjective fit is contingent on advertisement attractiveness and organizational image. Accordingly, the authors observe if advertisement attractiveness and organizational image help to strengthen the objective-subjective P-O fit relation.

The authors conduct a survey among 942 individuals and compare between prospective jobseeker (n=629) and actual jobseeker (n=313) subsamples.

Generally, the authors show that ad advertisements positively moderates the relation between objective and subjective fit. Moreover, the authors show that advertisement attractiveness moderates the relationship between objective and subjective fit for prospective jobseekers while the moderating influence of advertisement attractiveness is not significant for actual jobseekers. Organizational image, however, is shown to act as a negative moderator, particularly for the actual jobseeker sample.

The authors aim to contribute to prior research by emphasizing how the link between objective and subjective P-O fit can be elevated by cues such as advertisement attractiveness and might be disturbed by a very good organizational image.

This study informs practitioners how two important recruitment signals, job advertisement and organizational image, influence the transmission of objective into subjective fit and thus help firms to improve their recruitment efforts.

Even though many studies support the effects of P-O fit on organizational attractiveness or application intentions, only little is known in terms of how the relationship between the two dimensions of P-O fit – objective and subjective fit – can be positively influenced. Hence, there is a lack of understanding of how firms can focus their recruitment efforts effectively on highly fitting individuals.

The purpose of this paper was to study the effect of workplace loneliness on job performance. This paper also examined the mediating role of employee well-being and psychological safety and the moderating role of person–environment fit (PE fit).

A multi-rated research design was used to collect data. Data were collected from 382 employees and their 97 supervisors of various Indian organizations. The data of job performance was collected from the supervisor of every team. The questionnaire for data collection was distributed at two different time intervals to reduce common method bias.

The findings of this paper supported the role of PE fit in minimizing the negative effect of workplace loneliness–well-being relationship and workplace loneliness and psychological safety relationship. The model also tested the association between workplace loneliness and job performance when the relationship is moderated by PE fit and mediated by well-being and psychological safety.

This paper examines the workplace loneliness from the lens of PE fit theory.

Consumers may boycott firms’ corporate social responsibility (CSR) activities, but little is known about when, why and how they would respond in this way. Based on psychological contract violation and discount principles, the purpose of this paper is to argue that timing and fit of CSR activities are the main dimensions of consumers’ psychological contract. It is posited that CSR activities would be boycotted if consumers perceived violation of their psychological contract, and their altruistic tendency would have a moderating effect on this mechanism.

This paper takes the form of an empirical study using a sample of 434 respondents through scene-questionnaire survey in central China.

It is found that (1) low fit or reactive CSR activities would induce consumers’ psychological contract violation, and the latter has a more significant influence; (2) perceived CSR is negatively related with consumers’ boycott behaviors, but CSR activities would be boycotted if consumers’ psychological contracts are violated; (3) the negative relationship between perceived CSR and consumers’ boycott behaviors would be strengthened by consumers’ altruistic tendency, and the positive relationship between consumers’ psychological contract violation and their boycott behaviors would also be strengthened by their altruistic tendency.

This paper has significant theoretical implications, as it answers the question that when, why and how CSR activities would be boycotted. Besides, it contributes to literature on psychological contract for applying it to CSR research field. Furthermore, the double-edged effect of consumers’ altruistic tendency extends literature on pro-social behaviors.

This paper is of interests to corporate management and academics who wish to understand when and why consumers would boycott CSR activities and the factors that would relax consumers’ negative responses.

This is the first paper that investigates when, why and how CSR activities would be boycotted from the perspective of consumers’ psychological contract violation.

Job involvement is an important predictor of how well employees perform and feel at work. However, despite fruitful findings, little is known about how person–job (P–J) fit affects job involvement.

This study used a cross-sectional design and collected data from 375 employees and 50 managers. Multivariate regression was applied to test the moderated curvilinear model.

This study found an inverted U-shaped relationship between P–J fit and job involvement. For employees with a strong performance goal orientation, maximum job involvement occurred at a higher level of P–J fit, whereas for employees with a strong learning goal orientation, maximum job involvement occurred at a moderate level of P–J fit.

Managers should be aware that solely maximizing fit may not constantly yield positive outcomes, and that ignoring differences in employee needs and goals may be counterproductive.

The study challenges the conventional wisdom that a high P–J fit is always productive by showing that a high fit may sometimes jeopardize job involvement, particularly for certain employees.

This study aims to examine the effect of the perceived sponsor ubiquity on sponsor favorability via perceived sponsor sincerity and the moderating effect of perceived sponsor–property fit.

Two studies via a questionnaire survey of spectators attending a Japanese professional basketball game were conducted, and Hayes’ PROCESS macro was used for data analyses. Study 1 (n = 134) assessed how perceived sponsor ubiquity affected sponsor favorability via perceived sponsor sincerity. Study 2 (n = 206) examined a moderated mediation model incorporating a perceived sponsor–property fit.

In Studies 1 and 2, spectators perceiving a higher degree of sponsor ubiquity reported a lower degree of sponsor sincerity compared with those perceiving a lower degree of sponsor ubiquity and less favorability toward sponsors. In Study 2, the less positive effect of highly perceived ubiquity was weakened when spectators perceived a higher degree of sponsor–property fit.

The findings provided sponsors with insights into effectively communicating perceived ubiquity and perceived sponsor–property fit. Hence, sponsors must be careful about their ubiquitous sponsorships, as their engagement in each property can be perceived as less distinctive among consumers.

To the best of the authors’ knowledge, this study is the first to highlight the mediating mechanism of perceived insincerity between perceived ubiquity and favorability toward sponsors. Furthermore, evidence that fit acted as a moderator on perceived ubiquity–outcome relationships extended previous studies mainly treating fit as a direct antecedent of sponsor response.

This study aims to investigate the effects of type of message (information/buy), the moderating effects of fit (high/low) and salience (brand vs cause) and the mediating effects of attributions of partner motives in cause marketing advertisements.

Two experiments, one with students and the second with a more representative sample of the population were used to investigate the effects. ANOVA and structural equation modeling were used to test the relationships.

Fit and salience were found to be key moderators on the effect of type of message on consumer responses. While brands can use a buy message when they are salient, this benefits them only when fit is high. For informational messages, cause salience leads to positive outcomes, especially when fit is low. Further, consumer attributions of partner motives mediate responses to the advertisement.

Type of message is an important variable that needs to be selected with care. However, the moderating effects of fit and salience and the mediating effects of consumer attributions of partner motives may be able to overcome type of message.

Initial partner selection is critical for the brand. A second key factor is inferences due to the specific message, fit and salience. Nonprofit firms have less to worry about fit compared to brands as attitude and behavioral intentions are high under both fit conditions.

Cause marketing can be used successfully to benefit both brand and cause simultaneously.

This study examines the effects for both brands and causes and suggests ways in which both can benefit, leading to a win–win situation. This is an important contribution to the cause marketing field.