확장된 브랜드의 브랜드 자산이 소비자의 고비용 지불용의에 미치는 영향

초록

Social network services, which are based on the wide spread diffusion of the Internet and improvement of information and communication technology, enable free communication without temporal and spatial constraints among people and machines, are fulfilling the basic desire of consumers. Currently, many people spend much of their time on line. Many companies have regarded social network services as an attractive marketplace and have applied various elements of retailing that were once performed only in offline channels. The advantages of social network services as business spaces allow social network service brands to enter new markets through brand extension. They have extended their service brand into various service areas that focus on shopping, games, and contents on platforms they have already built. Specifically, character-based e-sticker content has been favorably recognized by users because it makes it easy and enjoyable to communicate emotionally with people. KakaoTalk, a major social network service in Korea, has extended its brand to other services and to a product brand by combining e-stickers with various products such as dolls and stationery to leverage the users’ positive attitudes, which are naturally shaped while using social network services. Extension into character-applied products costs a relatively higher price to the customers than extension to a general product. For this extension to be affordable, an approach from the concept of brand equity is necessary. However, in the area of brand extension research, brand extension of the social network service brand has been mainly discussed as an extension into the services that can be provided in the same platform. Thus, research on brand extension has not given enough attention to the case of brand extension into a product brand. Therefore, this study proposes a research model to comprehend the extension of the social network service brand into the product brand and examines what is needed for consumers to formulate a positive attitude toward the extended product brand. This study shows consumers' attitudes toward the product brand extended from the social network service brand in one integrated framework. The proposed research model presents three stages: (1) generation of word of mouth according to characteristics of the social network service brand (i.e. parent brand); (2) brand equity formation of the extended product brand; (3) shaping of the consumer's attitude toward the extended product brand in a framework. Hypotheses concerning each stage were developed. First, in relation to the characteristics of the parent brand, we propose that consumer service satisfaction is positively related to the quality of social network services and social influence, which generates positive word of mouth for the extended brand. The existing literature on brand extension has emphasized the importance of the role of the parent brand for the success of extended brands. This study suggests social influence in addition to service quality as a characteristic of the parent brand that affects the success of extended brands in consideration of the attributes of social network services. Second, in the formation of brand equity of the extended product brand, this study suggests that the word of mouth for extended product brand generated from the service quality and social influence of parent brand contributes to raising awareness of, familiarity with, and commitment to extended brands. Because a product brand extended from a social network service is not provided on the same platform as general extensions into other service brands, the formation of brand equity must be considered. This study hypothesizes that the word of mouth for extended product brand has a positive effect on the two components (i.e. familiarity and commitment) of the brand equity after raising awareness on the extended product brand. Third, in shaping consumer attitudes towards the extended product brand, this study proposes the effects of three factors of extended brand equity on willingness to pay a premium. By testing the direct effects of all three elements of brand equity, we plan to find the requirements of the level of brand equity for success of extended product brand. For the empirical analysis, we collected data through a survey of 230 adult Korean consumers. In this study, structural equation modeling was used to test the proposed research model, and the significance of the paths between the constructs were investigated. The results of the analysis using the structural equation model were interpreted in three stages presented in the research model, for convenience. First, in the stage of word of mouth formation by the characteristics of parent brand, both service quality and social influence of KakaoTalk were found to have a positive effect on service satisfaction. In addition, the service quality and social influence of the parent brand indirectly influenced the word of mouth for the extended product brand through service satisfaction. Thus, we confirmed the results of the existing literature that satisfaction of the parent brand must be preceded in order to achieve positive word of mouth for successful brand extension. According to the hypothesis test for the second stage, which explains the brand equity formation process of the extended product brand, word of mouth for the extended product brand had a positive effect on awareness of the extended product brand. Moreover, the awareness on extended brand affected by word of mouth positively related to familiarity and commitment on the extended brand. The sequential increase in the three factors that express brand equity (i.e. awareness, familiarity, and commitment) is the evidence that the word of mouth meaningfully contributes to the formation of brand equity of the extended product brand. Previous research has mainly discussed the impact of one brand’s word of mouth on its own brand equity, but this study has shown that it is also positively related to the formation of brand equity of the extended brand. Third, the analysis of the process by which brand equity for extended product brand shaped the customers’ attitudes toward the extended product brand showed a positive effect of brand awareness and brand commitment among the components of brand equity. On the other hand, brand familiarity, unlike the other two factors, did not show a significant effect on customers’ willingness to pay a premium. However, it was also confirmed that familiarity of the extended product brand positively affects brand commitment, thus indirectly affecting willingness to pay a premium through brand commitment. The implications of this study are as follows: Many companies use brand extension strategies to increase the possibility of success in new markets and to gain brand leverage. Brand extension strategy, mainly used by product brands, has recently been used by service brands, and brand extension of service brands into product brands is also emerging. This study proposes an integrated conceptual framework that encompasses every stage from parent brand to customer to interpret this newly emerging brand extension of social network service brand into product brand. Specifically, the proposed framework identifies success factors at the parent brand level and the effects of these success factors on brand equity formation of the extended product brand and customers’ attitudes towards the extended product brand. Finally, this study proposes future research with some limitations. In this study, we suggest service quality and social influence as characteristics of the parent brand to generate word of mouth for the extended product brand. However, it is desirable to enrich the research model by adopting various antecedents according to the nature of the other parent service brands. Also, the cross-sectional methodology used in this study has limitations in asserting causal relationships in the brand extension. To overcome these limitations, it is necessary to find a parent brand and an extended product brand which has a low level of brand equity and to examine the proposed research model through longitudinal research methodology. Furthermore, investigating the bi-directional influence between parent service brands and their extended product brands is an interesting area of future research.

키워드