FACTORS INFLUENCING CONSUMER EXPECTATIONS THROUGH

LEARNING CONTENT MANAGEMENT SYSTEM ON BRAND

EXTENSION FOR COSMETIC PRODUCTS AMONG THAI CONSUMERS
 
Prin Laksitamas D.B.A.
Assistant Professor
Department of Marketing, Siam university
235 Petkasem Road, Phasichareon, Bangkok 10160, Thailand

Sivarat Na Pathum Ph.D.

Assistant Professor
Department of Marketing, Siam university
235 Petkasem Road, Phasichareon, Bangkok 10160, Thailand

Voravut Charusomboon
Doctoral Student
Department of Marketing, Siam university
235 Petkasem Road, Phasichareon, Bangkok 10160, Thailand
voravut_best@hotmail.com

Abstract: The purpose of the present study was to examine Thai consumers’ perceptions of
cosmetic products, as and extension of the traditional product and the factors which influence the
consumers in their willingness to purchase those products. These factors include their perception
of product attributes and product characteristics. A research model was created to provide the
relationships concerning the consumers’ perceived product attributes and their evaluations in
purchasing through learning content management system.

Consumer perceived factors influencing their decision making were differently related to Thai
consumers’ willingness to purchase on brand extension of cosmetic products in terms of
traditional product attributes, extension product attributes, and their confidences to use the
products. Thai consumers more concerned about those factors than other consumers. The study
showed the direct relationships between traditional product attributes, extension product line
attributes, and behavior in consumption for Thai consumers’ willingness to purchase extension
product line. Those factors were directly related to Thai consumers’ involvement with
willingness to purchase extension product lines. For Thai consumers, extension product
attributes and factors related to confidences were the best predictors of their decision to purchase
extension product lines. (Kapferer ,1995 Aaker ,1990) Aaker ,1991 Reddy, Holak, and Bhat,
1994 Sheinin and Schmitt, 1994 Aaker and Keller , 1990 Sheinin and Schmitt, 1994 Aaker 1996)

                                      
Keyword : Brand extension, Expectations, Perception, attitudes, learning content management
system.

Introduction
As and extension of the traditional product and the factors which influence the consumers
in their intention to buy those products. These factors include their perception of product
attributes and product characteristics. direct relationships between traditional product were the
best predictors of their decision to buy extension product lines. Brand extension or brand
stretching is a marketing strategy in which a company marketing a product with a well-
developed image uses the same brand name in a various product category. Organizations use this
strategy to extend and leverage brand equity . A brand's "extendibility" depends on how strong
consumer's business are to the brand's values and goals.

In 1990s, 81% of new products used brand extension to present new brands and to make sales.
Keller, K.L. (1998), “Strategic Brand Management: Creating, Measuring, and Operating Brand
Equity”, Hemel Hempstead.

Brand extension is a new product development strategies which can decrease financial risk by
using the parent brand name to enhance consumers' perception because of the core brand equity.
Muroma, M. and Saari, H (1996), “Fit as a determinant of success”, in Beracs, J., Baure, A. and
Simon, J. (Eds), Marketing for Extension Europe, Procedure of 25th Annual Conference of
European Marketing Academy, pp. 1953-63. Chen and Liu 2004.

While there can be significant profits in brand extension strategies, there can also be significant
risks, resulting in a diluted or violently destroy brand image. Poor choices for brand extension
may dilute and deteriorate the core brand and destroy the brand equity.
Aaker,D.A.(1990),“Brand extensions: ‘the good, the bad, the ugly’”, Sloan Management Review,
pp. 47-56. Martinez and Pina, 2003

Most of the literature concentrete on the consumer evaluation and positive impact on parent
brand. In practical cases, the failures of brand extension are at higher rate than the successes.
Some studies present that negative impact may dilute brand identity and equity. Loken and John,
1993 Roedder-John, D., Loken, B. and Joiner, C. (1998), “The negative effect on extensions:
can flagship products be diluted?”, Journal of Marketing, 62 1, pp. 19-32 In spite of the positive
impact of brand extension, negative association and false communication strategy do harm to the
parent brand even brand family. (Aaker, 1990; Tauber, 1981; Tauber, 1988)

“categorisation theory” as their fundamental theory to investigate the links about the brand
extension. Park, C.W., McCarthy, M.S. and Milberg, S.J. (1993), “The effects of direct and
relevant brand extension strategies on consumer reflect to brand extensions”, Advances in
Consumer Research, 20, pp. 28-33. Park, C.W., Jun, S.Y. and Shocker, A.D. (1996), “Composite
brand alliances: an examination of extension and feedback effects”, Journal of Marketing
Research, 33(4), pp. 453-66 When consumers meet thousands of products, they not only initially
confused and disorderly in mind, but also effort to categorize the brand association or image with
their existing memory. When two or more products exit in front of consumers, they might

                                      
reposition memories to scope a brand image and concept toward new introduction. A consumer
can determine or evaluate the extension by their category memory. They categorize new
information into particular brand or product class label and store it. Park, C.W., Milberg, S.J. and
Lawson, R. (1991), “Evaluation of brand extensions: the role of product characteristic similarity
and brand idea consistency”, Journal of Consumer Research, 18(2), pp. 185-93. Sheinin, D.A.
and Schmitt, B.H (1994), “Extending brands with new product idea: the role of grouping
attribute congruity, brand affect, and brand breadth”, Journal of Business Research, 31, pp. 1-10.
This process is not only connected to consumer’s experience and knowledge, but also
involvement and selection of brand. Nedungadi, P and Hutchinson, J (1985), “The prototypically
of brand: relationship with brand awareness, preference and treatment”, Advances in Consumer
Research, 12, pp. 498-503. If the brand association is highly related to extension, consumer can
discern he fit among brand extension. Some studies recommend that consumer may neglect or
overcome the dissonance from extension especially flagship product which means the low
discerned of fit does not dilute the flagship’s equity.

Literature related to negative effect of brand extension is limited and the findings are shown as
incongruent. Romeo, Advances in Consumer Research, 18, pp. 399-406. In contrast, point out
dilution effect do occur when the extension across inconsistency of product category and brand
beliefs. The failure of extension may occur by difficulty of connecting with parent brand, a lack
of similarity and familiarity and inconsistent intregrated marketing communication messages.

The Study
This case study presents the phenomenon of brand extension and investigates the
correlation of consumer perception on the parent brand and the extended brand personalities.
Operating the brand in the fast growing consumer products industry, the brand personality is an
important variable and the company makes great efforts to communicate them to their target
market. The wider the range of brands extended, the higher the awareness the company needs
regarding how their consumers recognize the extended brands.

In order to make it possible to measure such an abstract and intangible predictor such as “brand
personality”, we conducted the survey at the case company in comparison to the consumer
survey undertaken from four various areas. The result points out whether the company could
maintain the overall integrity of the brand’s personalities, both for the parent and its expand
brands.

Brand management under the circumstances of the brand extension become a predominantly
significant and hard task whereby this research study could partly explain the importance of the
brand personalities. Most companies have a propensity to overlook their final consumer
perception and perception towards their brand personalities after the brand extension. Both
theoretical and empirical information have been required to get the deeper insight into the
problem area. The result of the study is sent to the case of a company to be investigated as the
brand indicators for making the durable brand hierarchy whereby the stable platform for the
future brand expansion is proactively secured.

                                      
Brand extensions might not only increase the returns but also help penetrate and capture a new
market. Some brand extensions are not promising because the extended brands might work
against the basic personality of the parent brand. By extending the brand, the focal point of its
parent brand’s personality might get distorted in the minds of the consumer if the extended
brand’s personalities fall outside the original brand characteristics. Conversely, if brand
extension is carried out properly, it will possibly create a tremendous rise in the brand
distinctiveness.

The consumer recognition on the brand personality has been discussed by some researchers from
many different perspectives. Most of them compare and contrast the brand personalities of
various products which are already well set up in the market. We could not find any of them
comparing and contrasting the parent brand and its extended brands’ personalities to describe
any correlations between those two variables. There are many doubts upon what could occur to
the consumer recognition on the parent brand while the company extends into new brand
concepts and introduces the relatively new brand personality to the consumers. As a result, how
significant is the consumer recognition on the parent brand and the extended brands’ personality
in correlation to each other?

During the last years, the ethnic cosmetic trends and new consumption patterns make a niche for
many cosmetic manufacturers and marketers to yield the market share and set up its new or
stronger position in this segment. There are doubts that the brand extension might affect the
parent brand and its extended brands in various ways. For example, certain extensions might
exploit the brand assets, while other extensions might damage the parent brand’s personality.
Some extensions might have a neutral effect while others help improve and foster the meaning of
the parent brand’s personality in the consumers’ mind.

We arguing, in this study, that it is highly critical for the company to tactically and proactively
design their extended brands’ identities. The well-judged brand personality design needs to be
planned and communicated within the organization and all connected partners have to secure the
sustainable brand personalities which are considered, in this study, one of the most important

Kapferer (1997), one of the influential researchers in branding, marks in his context that although
high cost are paid for companies with brands, companies are in fact purchasing certain places in
the minds of potential consumers. He adds that awareness, image, trust and reputation could
promise future success for the brand. So the value of a brand is partly represented by its ability to
build such cash flows. If it is true that the brand could give the product meaning and influences
its identity then a well-judged brand extension which could make crucial points of differentiation
in an ever more crowded market is important in managing the brand.

It is observable that the brand owners must recognize that brands are one of the most precious
assets and need to be operated with care and deliberation when deciding to extend the brand.
There are many indicators from the consumer perspective, which the company might consider in
order to track its external environment’s reaction toward their brand executions. Such study
would help the company to ensure that the indispensable values and qualities of the brand are
clearly understood and communicated to its final consumers. The necessary qualities and
attributes of the brand must be completely understood by the brand owner. For the author of this

                                      
paper, a brand is not a name, a position or a marketing statement. Instead, it is a commitment
made by a company to its customers and supported by the same company. In the same line of
thought, accept with Apostolopoulou’s (2002) definition of a parent brand as the name of the
brand that represents the basis for the extension. In an ever more rising competitive environment,
brand marketers are finding out the ways to expand their portfolios and at the same time decrease
the costs of the new products introduced as well as decrease the risk of new product failure. One
of the most popular ways to achieve this is to put a new product created in another category
under the name of an remaining brand. This is called brand extension (Fox et al., 2001).

According to Keller & Sanjay (2003), one of the most significant advantages of a strong
trademark is the fact that it creates it easier for consumers to accept a brand extension. Due to
the fact that brand extension diminishes the risk regarding consumers and reduces the cost with
marketing and promotion, it has become the most frequent product tactics over the last two
decades. Still, “brand extension can be a double-edged sword” (Keller & Sanjay, 2003, p.12). To
throw light upon Keller & Sanjay’s (2003) confirmation, successful and unsuccessful key factors
will be informed in the next paragraphs. According to Keller (1998) and Apostolopoulou (2002),
brand extensions help organizations by increasing their strength, their customer base and their
long term viability. In a study provided in U.S. for professional sport teams,

Apostolopoulou (2002) found six keys to successful brand extension:

the strength of the parent brand
the recognized fit between the parent brand and the extended product
the promotional support and positioning of the extended brand
the quality of the extension product
the distribution tactics
the management of the expansion

However, according to many authors, brand extension seems to be a dangerous thing to rely on.
Thus, Chen & Chen (2000) consider, in a study performed in Taiwan, that the following
criticizing ideas regarding brand extensions can be found in the suitable literature. The extended
brand is perceived as cannibalizing the parent brand by eating into the total sales of the main
brand. Moreover, an extension can make consumer confusion concerning the quality of the new
created products. Last but no least, brand extension is seen as a lazy version of a new brand.

According to Murphy (1990, p.110), “to improve new brands is extremely expensive, highly
risky and takes a long time.” When he speaks about expenses, Murphy (1990) does not only
mean the cost with making a new brand concept but also the costs with advertising in order to
launch the new brand on the market as well as to support it during its whole life cycle. Murphy
(1990, p.110) studies that “the process of branding is one whereby a bond is created between the
brand and the consumer and, commonly the consumer has little interest, at least initially, in the
brand proposition. Sustained advertising and promotional investment is therefore wanted to
create this bond and reassure the consumer that the brand proposition will persist; such on-
going support is expensive.”

                                      
The maintenance of the brand’s visual identity is another necessary factor for the line extension
that managers have to take into consideration. By ignoring, this standpoint can have as result the
disintegration of brand identity and personality, which can in turn seriously harm the value and
power of the core brand (Murphy, 1990). According to Hartley (1998), extension is now an
important part of the life of a brand, for it represents growth, development of scope and market
adaptability. Furthermore, he believes that the market needs to identify the right time, place and
content for the extension, as well as the ways to be implemented for the launch.

In contrast with Hartley’s (1998) opinion, Kapferer (2001) supposes that local or long-standing
brands have too little trust in brand extension. He adds that only a few ingredients may be
needed to revitalize them and among them, the most essential are courage and enthusiasm, but
also a dynamic and exciting product range.

Moreover, Kapferer (2001) believes that there are many bad reasons for extension such as
extension is popular, and that is why many brands include this strategy before consuming all the
resources for growth of the core product. One might question that every brand is different, and
some brands are more flexible than others. We argue that there is no magic formular for brand
extension. Some explorative descriptions on the brand extension process will be obtained from
our case company in order to lighten the reality with the theories as follows: How does a
company know that the extension will “fit” the core brand? Is it necessary that the core value of
the extension and its positioning must be identical or very similar to the parent brand? To take a
positive attitude, it could be presupposed that brand extension might in contrast create a strong
and growing focus on the parent brand. The brand extension, we infer, could appose to new
brand development. Perhaps brand extension can also remain interest in the parent brand and
may help to make sure that it remains sustainable in the consumer mind.

Perception is a necessary psychological process and is relevant for our study in order to
understand how consumers recognition the new products made through brand extension.

“Information processing is a sequence of activities by which stimuli are recognized transformed

into information and stored” (Hawkins et al., 2001, p.284). The figure below illustrates an
important information-processing model with four main steps or stages: exposure, attention,
interpretation and memory. The first three of these constitute perception.

                                      
Figure : Expectations through Learning Content Management System

Experiences

External  

Influences 
 
Culture 
Making Decision 
Social Status 
Expectation of  
Reference Groups 
 
Marketing Activities  Need   
Perception 
Decision‐Making on 
  brand extension for 
Desires cosmetic products
Internal 
 
Influences 
Perception 

Personality 

Emotions 

Attitudes 

Experiences

According to Antonides et al. (1998), consumers perceive reality in their own styles Among
them, subjective and objective perceptions stand out. Subjective perception is selective.
However, this selectivity is necessary nowadays to the overload of information. From the amount
of offers on the market, people have to take this decision, which on the other hand can make
them miss relevant information (Antonides et al. 1998).

When a new product emarges, the consumers must decide in which category he/she should
position it. For this, the consumer is interested in paying attention to the product’s characteristics
and personalities. Perception is the first step in giving meaning and place to a new product
(Antonides et al. 1998).

                                      
Taking this into consideration, we will further use the model of Hawkins et al. (2001) to throw
some light on what is the nature of perception and how does it work.

Exposure occurs when a stimulus such as a billboard comes within range of a person’s sensory
receptor nerves - vision, for example. Attention occurs when the receptor nerves pass the
sensations on the brain for processing. Interpretation is the assignment of meaning to the
received sensations. Memory is the short-term use of the meaning for immediate decision-
making or the longer-term retention of the meaning (Hawkins et al. 2001).

The figure above and the discussion suggest a linear flow from exposure to memory. However,
these processes occur virtually simultaneously and are clearly interactive. That is, our memory
influences the information we are exposed to, attend to and the interpretations we assign. At the
same time, memory itself is being shaped by the information it is receiving.

Both perception and memory are extremely selective. Of the massive amounts of information
available, an individual can be exposed to only a limited amount. Of the information to which the
individual is exposed, only a relatively small percentage is attended to and passed on the central
processing part of the brain for interpretations. The meaning assigned to a stimulus is as much or
more a function of the individual as it is the stimulus itself. Much of the interpreted information
will not be available to active memory when the individual needs to make a purchase decision
(Hawkins et al. 2001).

This selectivity sometimes referred to as perceptual defenses, means that individuals are not
passive recipients of marketing messages. Rather, consumers largely determine the messages
they will encounter and notice as well as the meaning they will assign them. Clearly, the
marketing manager faces a challenging task when communicating with consumers.

The figure above and the discussion suggest a linear flow from exposure to memory. However,
these processes occur virtually simultaneously and are clearly interactive. That is, our memory
influences the information we are exposed to, attend to and the interpretations we assign. At the
same time, memory itself is being shaped by the information it is receiving.

After studying the related literature, we can indicate that brand identity represents the public
image of a product, line or service. It is the visual link between the company and the consumer.
Brand identity covers brand names, logos, positioning, brand associations and brand identity.

Conclusions

The research findings underline a necessary point which is that although consumers are
the ones judging the brand and its extensions in terms of expectations, perceptions and attitudes,
it still is important for the brand managers to permanently manage the consumer’s brand
knowledge structures by strengthening the brand, tactic which will not only allow future growth

                                      
possibilities but also a shield against failed brand extensions. However, in the present
environment, the consumer’s brand relationship with the brands is eroding owning to an
explosion of offers on the market. Strengthening a brand and permanently looking for methods to
achieve growth has never been more demanding in cosmetic products.

We believe that by adopting statistical techniques, marketers can improve and deliver better
brand messages more quickly and briefly In this sense, our study can be useful for brand
managers and in particular, for Thailand it shows how consumers perceive compared to the
expectations of the company with the fact brand extension for cosmetic product with learning
content management system.

REFERENCES

Aaker, D.A. (1991), Managing Brand Equity, Free Press, New York, NY.

Aaker, D.A. (1996), Building Strong Brands, Free Press, New York, NY.

Keller, K.L. (1998), “Strategic Brand Management: Building, Measuring, and Managing Brand
Equity”, Prentice-Hall International, Hemel Hempstead.

Keller, K.L. (2001). “Building customer-based brand equity”. Marketing Management, 10(2),
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Keller, K.L., Sood, S. (2003). Brand Equity Dilution, MIT Sloan Management Review, Vol. 45,
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Milberg, S.J., Park, C.W. and McCarthy, M.S. (1997), “Managing negative feedback
effectsassociated with brand extensions: the impact of alternative branding strategies”, Journal
of Consumer Psychology, 6(2), pp. 119-40.

Muroma, M. and Saari, H (1996), “Fit as a determinant of success”, in Beracs, J., Baure, A. and
Simon, J. (Eds), Marketing for Expanding Europe, Proceedings of 25th Annual Conference of
European Marketing Academy, pp. 1953-63.

Murphy, J. M. (1990). Brand Strategy. England: Prentice Hall Inc.

Nedungadi, P and Hutchinson, J (1985), “The prototypically of brand: relationshipwith brand

awareness, preference and usage”, Advances in Consumer Research, 12, pp. 498-503.

Park, C.W., Jun, S.Y. and Shocker, A.D. (1996), “Composite brand alliances: an investigation of
extension and feedback effects”, Journal of Marketing Research, 33(4), pp. 453-66

Park, C.W., McCarthy, M.S. and Milberg, S.J. (1993), “The effects of direct and associative
brand extension strategies on consumer responses to brand extensions”, Advances in Consumer

                                      
Research, 20, pp. 28-33.

Park, C.W., Milberg, S.J. and Lawson, R. (1991), “Evaluation of brand extensions: the role of
product feature similarity and brand concept consistency”, Journal of Consumer Research,
18(2), pp. 185-93.

Roedder-John, D., Loken, B. and Joiner, C. (1998), “The negative impact of extensions: can
flagship products be diluted?”, Journal of Marketing, 62 (1), pp. 19-32

Romeo, J.B.(1991),“The effect of negative information on the evaluation of brand extensions and
the family brand”, Advances in Consumer Research, 18, pp. 399-406.

Sheinin, D.A. and Schmitt, B.H (1994), “Extending brands with new product concepts: the role
of category attribute congruity, brand affect, and brand breadth”, Journal of Business Research,
31, pp. 1-10.

Tauber, E.M. (1981), “Brand franchise extensions: new products benefit from existing brand
names”, Business Horizons, 24(2), pp. 36-41.

Tauber, E.M. (1988), “Brand leverage: strategy for growth in a cost-controlled world”, Journal
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