Embracing the organic way : is consumer preference the same for all brands?

Purpose: The growing market for organic products presents a tremendous opportunity for marketers to extend their existing brands. However, there is hardly any research that investigates the factors extension from an organic parent brand is preferred over extension into same product category for success of such brand extensions. This paper investigates the role of two different bases consumers may use to evaluate the extension into organic product – organic status of the parent brand and its similarity to the extended product category. Design/methodology/approach: The study involved a 2 × 2 (organic versus regular parent brand and same versus different product category) between-subjects factorial design. Data collected from 164 postgraduate students presented with one of the four scenarios were analysed using ANOVA. Findings: The results reveal that extensions from organic parent brand versus regular brand, and in the same product category versus different category, are evaluated more favourably. Moreover, extension from an organic parent brand is preferred over extension into same product category. Originality/value: The research contributes to the extant literature on branding and retailing by building on categorisation theory to explain consumer preference for brand extension when launching a new organic product. The findings provide valuable insights to practitioners to launch a new organic product using brand extension.