Editing Reputation (section)

===Reputation transfer===
In the context of [[brand extension]] strategies, many companies rely on reputation transfer as a means of transferring the good reputation of a company and its existing products to new markets and new products. Consumers who are already familiar with other products of an established [[brand]], exhibiting [[customer satisfaction]] and loyalty, will more easily accept new products of the same brand. In contrast to brand extension, the general concept of reputation transfer also requires the transfer of a company's values and identity to the new products and/or services and the related brands when entering new markets. It is important, however, to pay attention to the image fit between preexisting and new brands, for this factor has been proven to be critical for the success of brand extensions.<ref>Voelckner, F and Sattler, H. (2007) 'Empiric Generalizability of Consumer Evaluations of Brand Extensions', International Journal of Research in Marketing, 24, pp. 149–162.</ref> In contrast to the special case of brand extension, the general concept of reputation transfer also requires the transfer of the values and identity of a company to the new products and/or services and the related brands when entering new markets. A strong image might therefore even hamper the introduction of new product lines if customers do not associate the competences relevant to the new market/category/product line with the existing company or brand.
A company's reputation is furthermore influenced by [[culture]], as nationalities differ with regard to how valued specific aspects of the company's [[brand identity]] are in the respective national culture (e.g. environmental concerns or work ethics) as well as with regard to popular cultural dimensions (e.g. [[Hofstede's cultural dimensions theory|Hofstede]]). Subsequently, these differences impact the success of reputation transfer significantly.<ref name="Wagner">Falkenreck, C. & Wagner, R.: Impact of Direct Marketing Activities on Company Reputation Transfer Success: Empirical Evidence from Five Different Cultures. Proceedings of the 12th International Conference on Corporate Reputation, Brand Identity, and Competitiveness. Beijing: 2008</ref>