Expanding Nature : Product line and brand extensions of a scientific journal

Expanding Nature: Product-Line and Brand Extensions of a Scientific Journal

10.31235/osf.io/j426h ◽

2021 ◽

Author(s):

Khelfaoui ◽

YVES GINGRAS

Keyword(s):

Scientific Journal ◽

Product Category ◽

Symbolic Capital ◽

Scientific Field ◽

Product Line ◽

Brand Extensions ◽

Line Extension ◽

Research Cycle ◽

Branding Strategies ◽

Academic Rankings

Academic publishers now market their most prestigious journals as commercial brands. This paper investigates this trend in the scholarly publishing market, by analyzing how the successive owners of the journal Nature have capitalized on its reputation to generate additional profits to those already accumulated through university library subscriptions. Two branding strategies of the journal Nature are analyzed: the first one, product-line extension, consists in extending the Nature brand in the same product category, by creating an ever-increasing number of derived Nature journals; the second one, brand extension, consists in extending the Nature brand to other categories of products and services, such as academic rankings, sponsored supplements, feature advertisements, or webinars and trainings. The Nature brand leveraging strategy has been imitated by many other journal publishers. These branded products and services are well suited to the particular dynamics of the scientific field, which is based on the continuous quest for recognition. They are thus sold at all stages of the research cycle, from writing grants to popularizing research results, to scientists and academic institutions competing to accumulate symbolic capital. In this respect, academic publishers that engage in scholarly journal branding contribute to the transformation of the scientific “community” into a scientific market.

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Reciprocal Spillover Effects: A Strategic Benefit of Brand Extensions

Journal of Marketing ◽

10.1509/jmkg.67.1.4.18594 ◽

2003 ◽

Vol 67 (1) ◽

pp. 4-13 ◽

Cited By ~ 239

Author(s):

Subramanian Balachander ◽

Sanjoy Ghose

Keyword(s):

Panel Data ◽

Brand Choice ◽

Brand Extension ◽

Spillover Effects ◽

Product Line ◽

Brand Extensions ◽

Parent Brand ◽

Product Line Management ◽

Scanner Panel Data ◽

Scanner Panel

A commonly advanced rationale for the proliferation of brand extensions is companies’ motivation to leverage the equity in established brands, thereby developing profitable products relatively easily. A more interesting strategic argument for brand extensions that has been advanced is that extensions would favorably affect the image of the parent brand and thereby influence its choice. In this research, the authors investigate the existence of such reciprocal spillover effects emanating from the advertising of a brand extension. The authors use scanner panel data and study spillover effects of advertising on brand choice. They develop implications for brand and product line management.

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