Professor Kyeongheui Kim's article was accepted by International Journal of Research in Marketing.



Abstract 

Asians are more likely than Westerners to have both a relational (vs. analytic) thinking style and a prevention (vs. promotion) focus. These two chronic dispositions can have opposite effects on their evaluations of brand extensions, the relative magnitude of which depends on whether the extensions are construed at a concrete or abstract level. Results of three experiments demonstrate that when an extension is psychologically close and construed at a concrete level, Asians’ disposition to engage in relational thinking leads them to perceive the extension to be relatively more similar to the parent, leading them to evaluate the extension more favorably than do Westerners.
On the other hand, when the extension is psychologically distant and construed at an abstract level making Asians unlikely to engage in relational processing, their prevention focus leads them to perceive the extension to be riskier and to evaluate it less favorably than do Westerners.