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Stretching Firm and Brand Reputation

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  • Luis M.B. Cabral

Abstract

I consider an adverse selection model of product quality. Consumers observe the performance of the firm's products, and product performance is positively related to the firm's (privately observed) quality level. If a firm is to launch a new product, should it use the same name as its base product (reputation stretching), or should it create a new name (and start a new reputation history)? I show that for a given level of past performance (reputation), firms stretch if and only if quality is sufficiently high. Stretching thus signals high quality.

Suggested Citation

  • Luis M.B. Cabral, 2000. "Stretching Firm and Brand Reputation," RAND Journal of Economics, The RAND Corporation, vol. 31(4), pages 658-673, Winter.
    • Handle: RePEc:rje:randje:v:31:y:2000:i:winter:p:658-673
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    References listed on IDEAS

    as
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    More about this item

    JEL classification:

    • D21 - Microeconomics - - Production and Organizations - - - Firm Behavior: Theory
    • D24 - Microeconomics - - Production and Organizations - - - Production; Cost; Capital; Capital, Total Factor, and Multifactor Productivity; Capacity
    • D82 - Microeconomics - - Information, Knowledge, and Uncertainty - - - Asymmetric and Private Information; Mechanism Design

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