Identifying brand deletion strategy configurations: Are different strategies equally successful?
(A2020-64475)

AUTHORS

Javier Rodríguez-Pinto, University of Valladolid; Víctor Temprano-García, University of Valladolid; Ana Rodriguez-Escudero, University of Valladolid

KEYWORDS

Brand portfolio management; Brand deletion strategy; Configuration analysis

ABSTRACT

Brand deletion (BD) is a key strategic decision within brand portfolio management. However, scholars have devoted little attention to this phenomenon, resulting in a scarce and fragmented literature. Too little is known about what cause a firm to delete a brand, how it makes the decision, how it executes the deletion and how all these factors determine the eventual success of this strategy. Underpinned in the configuration theory, we empirically identify three different clusters of BD cases according to multiple dimensions covering the causes as well as the decision-making and implementation process. Secondly, we examine how these configurations are related to BD success, thus testing the equifinality proposition, i.e. whether similar results may be achieved following different configurations. Findings reveal the existence of three distinct clusters. One of the configurations leads to superior outcomes, and the other two show similar levels of success.

REFERENCES

The authors wish to thank the financial support of Ministerio de Economía y Competitividad (Grant No. ECO2017-86628-P), European Regional Development Fund (ERDF) and Regional Government of Castilla y León (Spain) (Grant Nos. VA112P17, VA085G18).