Cultural differences in brand extension evaluation: The role of analytic versus holistic thinking

Prior research shows that consumers evaluate brand extensions on the basis of similarity or "fit" with their parent brand, with better "fit" leading to more favorable extension evaluations (Keller 2002). Based on research on cultural differences in thinking, we suggest that this process differs for consumers in Eastern versus Western cultures.; In essay #1: "Does Culture Matter in Brand Extension Evaluations?", we hypothesized that Easterners, being holistic thinkers, would perceive higher brand extension fit than Westerners, leading to more favorable brand extension evaluations. A secondary purpose of this essay was to examine whether Indian and American populations would be suitable representations of an Eastern and Western culture, respectively. In two studies, we found that Easterners gave higher brand extension fit and evaluation ratings than Westerners, particularly for poor fitting brand extensions like Coke popcorn. We also found that Easterners and Westerners varied in their styles of thinking about brand extensions, often focusing on different aspects of the brand extension.; In essay #2: "Cultural Differences in Brand Extension Evaluation: The Role of Analytic and Holistic Thinking," we examine the question of why differences in brand extension evaluation emerge using samples of Easterners (Indians), Westerners (Americans) and biculturals (Asian-Americans). We also draw upon the conceptual combination literature to suggest that Easterners (being holistic thinkers) would be more likely to use relational linking, whereas Westerners (being analytic thinkers) would be more likely to use physical property mapping in judging the fit between a parent brand and its brand extension. This proposition was tested in a series of five studies. Our studies show that Eastern consumers provide more favorable brand extension evaluations than do Westerners, even for brand extensions that are considered to be low fitting by Western standards. We also hypothesized that prestige brands, unlike functional brands would show smaller cross-cultural differences due to their abstract prestige associations. Our results show that while functional brands show cultural differences with the Easterners providing higher evaluations than Westerners, prestige brands extensions into similar and dissimilar product categories were equally evaluated in a favorable manner by both cultures.