Abstract:

Based on the regulatory fit theory, this paper investigates the impacts of consumers’ regulatory focus (promotion focus vs. prevention focus) on brand extension evaluation. The results indicate that: (1) promotion focused individuals tend to adopt relational elaboration, therefore place more importance on the fitness between parent brand and extended product; (2) in contrast, prevention focused individuals tend to adopt item-specific elaboration, therefore place more importance on the perceived quality of parent brand.

Key words: Regulatory Focus, Regulatory Fit Theory, Elaboration, Brand Extension