“It’s good.” “says who?”: the mediating role of professional legitimacy on the relationship between film-extension performance and changes in directors’ human brand identity

Camille Pluntz and Bernard Pras (2020), “It’s good.” “says who?”: the mediating role of professional legitimacy on the relationship between film-extension performance and changes in directors’ human brand identity, Journal of Product & Brand Management, 29, 745-765.doi.org/10.1108/JPBM-02-2019-2272(CNRS cat.4. FNEGE cat. 3, HCERES cat. B)Building strong human brands inscribed in social and symbolic recognition is a strategic issue for branded individuals. In the context of film director human brands, this study aims to examine the respective influences of the economic and critical performance of films, on the one hand, and the professional legitimacy bestowed by internal stakeholders, on the other, on changes in human brand identity. Contrary to what is generally believed, it shows that the specific legitimacy bestowed by producers and the institutional legitimacy bestowed by elite peers mediate the effects of performance on changes in human brand identity. Brand extension (i.e. new films) incongruence and initial human brand identity moderate the effect of performance on legitimacy