How do consumers react to new product brands?

Abstract

Purpose Target markets of new product brands (niche customers) differ from those of existing product brands (mainstream customers) using conventional new product brand development strategy. The purpose of this paper is to contend that acculturation in the form of cultural pluralism exists in the marketplace and substantiates that contention through an investigation of consumer behavior outcomes resulting from the development of new product brands that target both mainstream and niche consumers through product brand crossover, an alternative product brand development strategy that leverages on cultural pluralism. Design/methodology/approach A between-subjects experiment was conducted to test whether consumers differ in their behavioral intentions toward existing and new product brands developed through product brand crossover. The experiments include marketing situations of matching and mismatching product brands and marketing communications in the form of marketing messages and advertising images. Findings The results show that consumers – in general and in segmented groups – do not differ in behavioral intentions toward existing and new product brands as a result of product brand crossover. Matching and mismatching product brands and marketing communications in the form of marketing messages and advertising images do not produce significant effects on behavioral intentions. Originality/value This paper offers fresh evidence showing that acculturation in the form of cultural pluralism exists in the marketplace and introduces a new concept in the form of product brand crossover that acknowledges and leverages on cultural pluralism as an alternative approach for new product brand development.