Corporate rebranding and brand preference: Brand name attitude and product expertise as moderators

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to investigate the moderating roles of brand name attitude and product expertise on the impact of different corporate rebranding strategies on consumer brand preference. Rebranding strategies include evolutionary and revolutionary rebranding strategies, while brand name attitude is consumer attitude towards a firm’s original brand name and consumer product expertise refers to the consumer knowledge related to the brand’s product or service. Design/methodology/approach – A 2×2 factorial experimental design is used to examine the proposed hypotheses. In total, 220 undergraduates from a public university in Taipei of Taiwan participate in the experiment. Findings – The findings indicate that given brand repositioning is preferable, the use of evolutionary rebranding strategies is superior in enhancing consumer brand preference in the case of pleasant original brand name attitude, while the use of revolutionary strategies is superior when consumers hold less pleasant attitude. In addition, expert consumers show similar responses towards the two rebranding strategies, whereas evolutionary strategies seem to be more effective than revolutionary ones in enhancing consumer brand preferences in the case of novice consumers. Research limitations/implications – A convenient sampling method was employed and undergraduate students were the research subjects. Besides, a fictitious brand was used in the experiment design. As a result, the generalisability and applicability of the current research findings should be considered and carried out with cautions. Practical implications – The findings of the research provide empirical understanding on the use of rebranding strategies to generate higher levels of brand preference under contingencies, thus helping brand managers apply a more appropriate type of rebranding strategies when necessary. Originality/value – The current study is the preliminary causal-oriented work to provide guidance with appropriate rebranding strategies under the contingencies of consumers’ original brand name attitude and product expertise.