Brand schematicity moderates the effect of aesthetic brands on brand accessories purchase intentions

Abstract

We empirically tested the relationship between aesthetic brands and evaluation of their accessories, and also explored the moderating roles of functional complementarity and brand schematicity on this relationship. Participants were 260 undergraduate students in Korea, who took part in an online experiment. Results showed that there were statistically significant differences in the evaluation of accessory products depending on the level of functional complementarity to the focal brand. Participants were significantly more likely to purchase an accessory of a high, compared to low, aesthetic brand when functional complementarity was moderate. Further, brand-schematic, compared to brand-aschematic, participants were more likely to purchase an accessory of high aesthetic brands, even when the functional complementarity was low. This demonstrates that when brand-aschematic participants acquired an aesthetically pleasing brand, they were motivated to buy additional accessories. Marketers may use our findings to develop strategies to increase the extendability of brand accessories.