۱- Introduction

۲- Cultural tourism and heritage tourism

۳- Authenticity as a success factor in brand extensions

۴- Brand equity in the cultural and heritage sphere

۵- Methodology

۶- Data analysis

۷- Conclusions

۸- Managerial implications

۹- Limitations and future research

References

Abstract

Brand extension is a strategy widely used among firms with high brand equity to launch new products into the market. This strategy has been the subject of considerable scholarly interest over the last few years. However, there are very few published works that have focused on analyzing brand extensions in the heritage context or, more specifically, in relation to the UNESCO World Heritage brand. The present study examines the extent to which the authenticity of a brand extension pertaining to a heritage destination parent brand affects the formation of brand equity for the extension. It takes into account the moderating roles of brand extension credibility and tourists’ experience and product knowledge. To fulfill the research objectives, an experimental design is applied to a sample of 217 tourists visiting the Monumental Complex of the Alhambra and Generalife in Granada, Spain, and the degree of authenticity of the brand extension is manipulated between subjects. The findings show that brand extension authenticity exerts a direct effect on brand extension equity, and an indirect effect, via brand extension credibility: these effects being activated only beyond certain levels of tourist experience of the heritage site and product knowledge.

Introduction

Cultural heritage and public awareness of its importance are among the primary elements that can contribute to socio-economic and cultural development (Backman & Nilsson, 2016; Carbone, 2016). Cultural heritage assets constitute a resource for the area in question, offering the potential to act as a tourist attraction and thus contribute to the development of the territory (Carbone, 2016). If these resources can be exploited in a sustainable manner, this constitutes an excellent opportunity to improve a community’s quality of life (Timothy & Boyd, 2006). On this point, Carbone (2016) notes that cultural heritage is vital for tourism destination development, appeal, and competitiveness. Thus, countries, regions, and cities the world over now compete for the attention of tourists, to attract them to their heritage offer (PaskalevaShapira, 2007). Among heritage sites, those classified as World Heritage (WH) according to the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) are of exceptional interest, as this universally recognizable label sets them apart as genuine heritage brands (Kim, Stepchenkova, & Yilmaz, 2019). This intense competition between tourist destinations requires them to generate their own competitive edge over others (Pike & Page, 2014). A clear competitive advantage can be gained by developing powerful brands that deliver a high level of value for clients. One way to achieve this is by employing a brand extension strategy, which consists of using the name of a well-established brand (the ‘parent’ brand) to launch a new product (the brand extension) in the market. While this approach has proved of great interest in the marketing realm, it has received little scholarly attention in the context of tourism destinations (Kim et al., 2019), yet it could provide a valuable source of competitive advantage for destinations that carry the WH brand.