【正文】 apitalize on the parent brand’s name. Perceived parent brand image was chosen because it represents the number and strength of associations that consumers possess in the existing mental schema about the brand, and thus best represents consumers’ brand knowledge. Brand image is defined as the collection of both product and nonproduct associations in consumer memory, and is developed through a synthesis made by the consumers of all the various brand signals such as brand name, visual symbols, the products it endorses, advertisements, other munications and even its reputation. These associations possess the capability to effect brand extension evaluations. Favorable brands result in greater positive attitudes among their consumers, which, in turn, facilitate the acceptance of new products bearing the favorable brand name owing to a transfer of attitude from the parent to the extension. The cue utilization theory lends further support to the effect of parent brand image on brand extension attitude, whereby the parent brand name on the brand extension serves as an extrinsic quality cue. Given that quality cues are determined through the senses before consumption, brand image as an extrinsic cue plays a more important role when consumers have had no prior experience with the brand extension or when the extension is new to the market. In this situation, the brand acts as an implicit cue for the quality of the new product. Thus, the following hypothesis is proposed: Hypothesis 1: Parent brand image positively affects attitude towards the brand extension. Hypothesis 2: Perceived parent brand image positively affects perceived brand extension fit. Hypothesis 3: Parent brand image positively affects parent brand attitude change. Hypothesis 4: Brand extension fit with the parent brand positively affects attitude towards the brand extension. Hypothesis 5: Brand extension fit with the parent brand positively affects parent brand attitude change. Hypothesis 6: Attitude towards brand extension positively affects parent brand attitude change. Attitude towards the brand extension and its effects Apart from parent brand image and perceived fit, attitude towards the brand extension was chosen as the third variable in the model. The rationale behind its inclusion was that a measure of brand extension success or failure creates vital initial reactions towards the parent brand. Ample evidence in the feedback literature lends credence to the importance of this variable given that the feedback process originates only after the extension is launched in the market and receives initial evaluations from consumers. Parent brand attitude change As regards the choice of the dependent variable, parent brand attitudes were chosen as the evaluative dimension because of their key importance in developing overall brand equity. Choosing parent brand attitudes as the dependent variable is in congruence with most of the feedback literature. However, despite the substantial literature investigating the impact of brand extensions on parent brand attitudes, there still remains a lack of clarity on the nature of impact and hence a need to clarify the issue. The focus of this study is to investigate the impact on the change in parent brand attitudes, as feedback effects have been conceptualized as a change in the mental schema of the parent brand. Thus, the dependent variable in the study is labeled ‘parent brand attitude change’. RESEARCH DESIGN A selfadministered quantitative survey of 387 young male subjects (all 18 – 25 years of age) from a university college in the capital city of New Delhi was conducted by handing out the survey during lectures. Missing data made up less than 3 percent of the usable responses, and was replace