An Empirical Study On Vertical Extension And Their Effects On The Customer's Brand Loyalty

Brand extension is very important strategy for many enterprises' brand management,it is also a good way to use brand equity.Brand extension can bring many benefits to enterprises,but also has its potential risks.This paper based on consumer havior,studies how the brand extension of brand influents brand loyalty.This paper based on formly theory,gives the model of brand extension influencing brand loyalty.Brand trust is the mediator variable.On the one hand,brand extension can directly affect brand loyalty;on the other hands,it can indirectly affect brand loyalty through brand trust. In the empirical analysis,it firstly tests that the change of brand trust and brand loyalty before and after the brand extension by T-test.Next uses multiple regression analysis to test the mediator effect of brand trust.The empirical results show that except for the hypothesis that the positive effect up-extension does to the symbolic positioning of brands brands' trust and loyalty will be greater than the positive effect it does to the functional positioning of brands brands'is not proved.The hypothesis that the upward extension can positively affect the brand trust and brand loyalty and the downward extension can negatively affect the brand trust and brand loyalty have been verified.And the mediator effect of brand trust,which is in the effect of brand extension to consumer's brand loyalty,does exist.