Avaliação de extensões de marca: uma pesquisa experimental no setor de serviços.

Abstract

The main objective of this study was to evaluate the effects, on consumers' assessments, of different brand names (arbitrary, descriptive and suggestive), of perceived similarity (high vs. low) and perceived quality of the main brand in relation to service brand extensions. The hypotheses were tested using a quantitative approach with structured questionnaires, as well as by conducting two experiments which involved a total of 1.338 respondents. In Experiment 1, brand names were manipulated along with the perceived similarity of the brand extension. Both were shown to have significant effects on the Intentions and Attitudes of consumers toward service brand extensions. In Experiment 2, a manipulation of the perceived quality of the main brand was added; it was found that the perceived quality of the main brand transferred to the extended service, and that the effects of perceived high quality of the main brand outweighed the effects of similarity (high vs. low) and of brand names with regard to service brand extensions. The dissertation also presents, in the last section, the limitations of the experiments, and makes suggestions for future research on service brand extensions.