【正文】 以后的研究也將檢查消費者響應(yīng)直線，品牌延伸使用的不同的母品牌，不同的條目類別。相反，當(dāng)現(xiàn)有產(chǎn)品的條目類別變異性低時，將會出現(xiàn)品牌杠桿的機(jī)會。這種設(shè)計 在 品牌延伸 上有 比前幾個相關(guān)研究 更有 優(yōu)勢： ① 受試者 是 被隨機(jī)分配到 各 品牌名稱的 ； ②受試者 對品牌及概念定義的 所有可能組合 的 反應(yīng)比照 進(jìn)行 研究 ； ③ 當(dāng)對相 關(guān)品牌先驗知識 進(jìn)行 控制 時， 無品牌 的 控制條件 成為 衡量一個新產(chǎn)品概念的推論。 研究命題與實驗設(shè)計 關(guān)于品牌延伸應(yīng)該受到這兩種類型 的 知覺變異 影響的 推論： ① 對一個公司現(xiàn)有 產(chǎn)品 的 知覺變異（即傘主場迎戰(zhàn)利基品牌） ； ② 對現(xiàn)存品牌 條目類別的知覺 變異?？赡苓@樣的企業(yè) 才 會被認(rèn)為有必要的知識和技能 去 進(jìn)入新市場， 它的 品牌延伸 也 應(yīng)該是合法的。 Park and Hastie 1987。 因此，新產(chǎn)品應(yīng) 該使已經(jīng) 建立 的 品牌受益，如果 這個 概念 對 購買決策有良好的影響 ，且跟 品牌名稱密切相關(guān)， 或原品牌和新品牌在 屬性，利益和用途方面的高度相關(guān) 。 品牌的杠桿作用是 指的使用 已經(jīng) 成功建立 的 品牌名稱進(jìn)入新的市場 。 最 近 的大量研究都集中在品牌權(quán)益 。s Current Offerings Some firms attach a single brand name to a wide variety of products in several different categories. Other firms use one brand name for one current offering. Henceforth, tJiese endpoints of the breadth continuum will be referred to as umbrella vs. niche brands, respectively. Because there are advantages and disadvantages associated with each of these ilternatives, strategy selection calls for an analysis of costs and benefits. One advantage of the umbrella strategy is that the miuufacturer is likely to be perceived as having a wide variety of strengths and skills in several different product categories. Such a firm may be perceived to have the requisite knowledge and skills for entering new markets, and, consequently, brand extensions should seem legitimate. A firm adopting a nichi strategy, on the other hand, may be perceived to possess highly specialized knowledge and skills tliat cannot be transferred readily to new markets. Of course, an umbrella firm runs the risk of being perceived as a jackofalltrades (master of none)。s current offerings, and the perceived variability of existing brands in an entry category. Perceived Variability and the Generalization Process Why do people make sweeping generalizations on the basis of limited evidence, in some cases, whereas in others, they fail to generalize even when extensive evidence is available? In addressing this issue, it bees immediately apparent that other factors besides perceived similarity are also likely to infiuence the generalization process. Theories of categorization must address not only the abstraction and use of distributional knowledge such as knowledge about the central tendency of category members on a given dimension (., attributes, benefits, uses), but also knowledge about the perceived variability or dispersion of category members on focal dimensions (Flannagan, Fried, and Holyoak 1986。s reasons for attempting to enter the new product category were measured. Repercussions of these inferences on judgments of the firm launching the brand extension were also examined. Implications of the results for product management are discussed. A great deal of recent research has focused on the concept of brand equity, which refers to the value added to a product by a brand name (Farquhar 1989。 Leuthesser 1988). A successful brand name is strongly associated with concepts designed to (a) enhance the perceived value of a product, and (b) differentiate a product from petitors39。 Fried and Holyoak 1984). For example, social judgment research has shown that generalization is greater when perceived variability on a target dimension is low, as oppo