The impact of bad fit product line extensions on brand personality

Abstract

This work project intended to study the impact of a bad fit product line extension on brand personality. To do that, the focus of the study was narrowed down to one dimension of the brand personality, ruggedness, and another one as a comparative dimension, sophistication. The test consisted in the introduction of a bad fit extension by two brands: Harley-Davidson and Jaguar. The findings show us that a bad fit extension has more impact in the sophistication dimension (increased the dimension score) than in the ruggedness dimension (did not impact this dimension) for a rugged brand, such has Harley-Davidson. It didn’t impact either dimension for Jaguar.