The Influence of Incongruent Line Extensions on Choice of a Brand's Pre‐Existing Products: The Mediating Role of Curiosity

ABSTRACT

Many brands have added highly incongruent products to their product lines, such as Lay's Chicken and Waffles Potato Chips, Blueberry Cheerios, and Carrot Cake Oreos. This paper investigates how highly incongruent products influence the choice of pre‐existing items in the product line. In Studies 1 and 2, we show that highly incongruent line extensions, compared to congruent line extensions, make consumers more likely to buy pre‐existing products within the same product line. In Study 3, we demonstrate that this effect is mediated by consumers becoming more curious about pre‐existing products in the line; highly incongruent (vs. congruent) line extensions increase curiosity about the pre‐existing products, which then leads to greater interest in purchasing those products. In Study 4, we show that the effect weakens for categories where consumers are less interested in learning about new products. This research provides practical implications for marketers, suggesting that even though highly incongruent products may seem like a poor fit with traditional product lines, they nevertheless have the potential to shift consumer choice within a product line, thereby increasing selection of a brand's pre‐existing products.