From Online to Offline Through Brand Extensions and Alliances

This paper studies the expansion of an online brand towards an offline product category through brand extensions and alliances. Specifically, it analyses the effects on the online brand image as a consequence of this expansion, and it analyses them under different conditions of image and fit. An empirical study was conducted to 407 undergraduates in a Spanish University, and data are analyzed through multivariate analysis of variance. Main results lead us to conclude that: (1) the effects of extensions and alliances are mainly negative on the online brand image, (2) the impact is focused specially on the functional and emotional dimensions of brand image (3) The effect is more negative for online brands with high image than for online brands with low image, and (4) the effect is more negative in the case of an alliance with an offline brand with low image than in the case of an alliance with an offline brand with high image or in a brand extension.