The Influence of Color on Brand Extension: Mediation Role of Processing Style

Abstract

AbstractColor carries distinct psychological meanings and thus it may induce a different cognitive processing style. Adopting this conceptual framework, the current research investigated the influence of color on brand extension evaluation. For color manipulation, participants were given the picture of a brand extension product (e.g., notebook) on a blue versus red background on a sheet of paper. Then participants evaluated the brand extension product. The finding revealed that participants in the blue‐background condition evaluated the extension product more favorably than those in the red‐background condition. This research further demonstrated that processing style mediated the effect of color on the evaluation of the brand extension product by using a visual matching task. In addition, this research showed the moderating effect of brand slogan on brand extension evaluation. Participants in the blue‐background condition evaluated the extension product (i.e., digital camera) more favorably when they were exposed to the abstract brand slogan, whereas participants in the red‐background condition evaluated the extension product more favorably when they were exposed to the concrete brand slogan.