The Effects of Physical Distance from a Brand Extension on the Impact of Brand‐Extension Fit

ABSTRACT Three experiments show that if a brand extension provides a close fit to the parent brand, consumers evaluate it more favorably when they perceive themselves to be close to a picture of the extension than when they do not. If the extension is a poor fit to the parent, however, the reverse is true. These effects are driven by a match between consumers’ feelings of closeness to the extension information and the extension's closeness to the parent. This match leads them to process the extension information more fluently and consequently to generate a more favorable evaluation of the extension.