Marketing Theses and Dissertations

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Brand Latitude
(University of Oregon, 2019-09-18) Charlton, Aaron; Cornwell, T. Bettina
This dissertation addresses the topic of brand latitude, defined herein as a public entity’s capacity to deviate from category norms or to transcend the normal function of a brand without incurring adverse responses from the public. The study of brand latitude is important because modern managers use brands to achieve much more than greater market share relative to similar competitors. Established brands are often leveraged to facilitate entry into new product categories, gain attention for social causes, and attract talent, among other uses. While managers hope every branding effort to be successful, these non-standard uses of brands may be received positively, negatively, or indifferently. This dissertation explores both the brand attributes and styles of approach that can lead to increased brand latitude. The first essay integrates various streams of literature to develop the concept of brand latitude, including predicted antecedents and outcomes. Additionally, potential moderators of these main effects are considered, including choice of narrative voice (first-person vs. third), a characteristic of the message. Essay 2 is an empirical investigation of both brand attributes (good character, innovativeness, altruism) and characteristics of the controversial message (use of first-person vs third-person narrative voice) as antecedents of brand latitude.