Contextualized representations of brand extensions: Are feature lists or frames the basic components of consumer cognition?

Abstract

According to the common view in consumer behavior, consumers represent brands and product categories mentally as lists of independent product features and engage in feature matching when they evaluate brand-product category compounds such as brand extensions. However, we demonstrate that brand extension concepts are subject to context effects and largely contextually organized — empirical evidence which suggests that they are represented by more flexible mental structures than independent feature lists. As an alternative, brand extensions (e.g., McDonald's Theme Park) may be viewed as conceptual combinations in which the original brand or company name (e.g., McDonald's) acts on the "head concept" of the extension category (e.g., theme parks) as a "modifier." Moreover, we suggest that the contextual and relational structure of brand extensions may be explained more adequately by mental frames than feature list representations.