Reassessing product line breadth effectiveness: The role of heterogeneity, moderation, and cumulative effects

Dean Charles Hugh Wilkie, Abas Mirzaei, Ngoc Pham and Lester W. Johnson

Journal of Business Research, 2022, vol. 149, issue C, 434-447

Abstract: Evidence regarding the impact of product line breadth (PLB) on brand performance remains fragmented; the current research proposes an influential effect of product equity in determining PLB success. To test these predictions, Study 1 first identifies heterogeneous effects of PLB on brand performance according to the levels of product equity. Specifically, PLB hinders (improves) the performance of low (high) product equity brands. Then Study 2 identifies two drivers of PLB effectiveness, product attribute differences and competitive intensity, that have contrasting influences for brands with high versus low product equity. These influences exert long-term, cumulative effects (i.e., over 104 weeks). To ensure the generalizability and applicability of the findings, this research effort spans a vast consumer scanner data set, involving 268 brand panels, 14 product categories, and three retailers. Based on this collected evidence, the authors propose a matrix of managerial actions that practitioners can adopt to increase their PLB effectiveness.

Keywords: Product line breadth; Product attribute difference; Product equity; Cumulative performance; Heterogeneity (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2022
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations:

Downloads: (external link)
http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0148296322004295
Full text for ScienceDirect subscribers only

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:eee:jbrese:v:149:y:2022:i:c:p:434-447

DOI: 10.1016/j.jbusres.2022.05.006

Access Statistics for this article

Journal of Business Research is currently edited by A. G. Woodside

More articles in Journal of Business Research from Elsevier
Bibliographic data for series maintained by Catherine Liu ().