Abstract:
Branding is one of the highlights of competitive business trends in the Dairy product
sector in Sri Lanka. Due to the reason that the dairy sector is a highly competitive
industry with fewer barriers to entry. Hence the future of dairy companies lies in the
brand. The brand offers added value to the customers and this brand value creates brand
loyalty and brand personality for the products. Brand extension, perceived quality of
the parent brand, and the extended brand are highly contributing in creating brand
personality attributes in the dairy sector. However, lack of research attention has been
given on the impact of brand extension on brand personality for the dairy products
where perceived quality playing a mediatory role. Having identified the knowledge gap
and empirical gap, this research study aimed to provide evidences to encourage
marketing, branding, and for symbolic brands because brand personality is an important
determinant of what the brand symbolizes. Accordingly, this study developed a model to
identify the impact of brand extension on brand personality mediated by perceived
quality in the dairy product sector in Sri Lanka. Data were collected from 200 dairy
product consumers from Western Province using multistage sampling and convenient
sampling techniques. Further, data were analyzed using descriptive statistics,
coefficient correlation analysis, regression analysis, and mediator. According to the
findings of the analysis, it was concluded that there is a positive impact of brand
extension on brand personality and there is a partially mediated impact of perceived
quality on the purchase behavior of dairy product consumers. As per the findings, the
impact of brand extension on brand personality was positive so that marketers would
concern about brand personality when extending the brands into new product
categories. The results provided both knowledge and managerial implications and as
well suggested some further research areas for future research.
Keywords: Brand extension, Brand personality, Perceived quality, Dairy sector, Parent
