Line extension versus new brand name introduction: Effects of new products discrepancy and relationship to an existing brand on the information process of new product evaluation

Many "new" products enter the marketplace each year. Most of these products are not genuinely new or innovative. One estimate places the number of truly new products at less than ten percent. The other ninety percent are modified or repositioned products. A survey of new consumer products found that about ninety percent were introduced as line extensions. About five percent were introduced as brand extensions and only fewer than five percent were introduced with a new brand name. Despite the popular use of line extensions in practice, relatively little academic research has focused on consumers' responses to line extensions.