Research

My research revolves around a marketing strategy called Ingredient Branding. A specialized type of brand extension, ingredient branding involves a host brand that contains a branded component, simply called an ingredient brand. When these brands are embedded in a single product, there are unique dynamics in play that can impact evaluation of the new product as well as the involved brands. The literature is relatively silent on many issues related to ingredient branding. Because ingredient branding is somewhat similar to a brand extension, there are lots of brand extension issues that demand attention in an ingredient branding context. Due to the presence of a second brand, issues are more complex in ingredient branding than in brand extensions.

As a result, my work begins to address some of these issues. The main issue I examine is the notion of feedback effects. These effects involve the influence of evaluations of an ingredient branded product on evaluations of the involved brands. Certain issues can create feedback effects, including fit, brand dominance, and brand success/failure. My dissertation addresses these phenomena.

Additional research interests include sustainability, attribution theory, international marketing, and  interfirm relationships. In the future I plan to apply these areas to the ingredient branding context.