 The impact of Janus fit brand extensions on perceived brand innovativenessWuraola Oluwabukola Falana, Jaakko Aspara and Johanna Frösén Journal of Business Research, 2024, vol. 179, issue C Abstract: This research addresses “Janus fit” brand extensions: extensions that are perceived to have both “fitting” and “unfitting” associations vis-a-vis the parent brand. One pre-experiment and three main experiments show that when a brand introduces a Janus fit brand extension, it is perceived to be more innovative than when it introduces either a traditional high fit extension or a low fit extension. The effects are mediated by surprise feelings. Specifically, the high brand innovativeness ratings obtained by the Janus fit extensions are explained by the fact that they elicit moderately high surprise feelings in consumers, instead of low surprise feelings (as high fit extensions) or excessively high surprise feelings (as low fit extensions). The Janus fit extensions can also be seen to evoke a “Eureka surprise experience”: an initial feeling of surprise, followed by a sudden realization that the brand extension after all makes sense for the brand in question. Keywords: Brand extension; Perceived fit; Perceived unfit; Surprise; Brand innovativeness (search for similar items in EconPapers) Downloads: (external link) Related works: Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:eee:jbrese:v:179:y:2024:i:c:s0148296324001784 DOI: 10.1016/j.jbusres.2024.114674 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 |
Is your work missing from RePEc? Here is how to contribute.
Questions or problems? Check the EconPapers FAQ or send mail to .
EconPapers is hosted by the
School of Business at Örebro University.