<abstract xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml"><p>Co-branding has become an increasingly popular strategy over recent decades. Studies have found that the pre-existing attitudes to the parent brands, fit between their product categories and perceived fit in the brands themselves as important drivers of a co-brand success. Despite its importance, most studies have treated brand fit as a simple measure of complementarily and consistency. Recently, a few papers have challenged this view, suggesting that a broader range of brand attributes (such as personality, functional and hedonic characteristics, cultural meaning) should also be considered when investigating brand alliances. The current study draws on these findings, exploring the fit between partners’ brand images and how they influence perceptions of a brand alliance. We treat brand image as a multi-dimensional construct, consisting of economic, symbolic, sensory, futuristic and utilitarian elements. Using an experimental design with nine hypothetical brand pairings with 221 respondents, we find brand image fit provides greater explanatory power over a traditional unidimensional measure of brand fit, with economic, futuristic and utilitarian dimensions having a significant influence on co-brand perceptions.</p></abstract>

Co-branding has become an increasingly popular strategy over recent decades. Studies have found that the pre-existing attitudes to the parent brands, fit between their product categories and perceived fit in the brands themselves as important drivers of a co-brand success. Despite its importance, most studies have treated brand fit as a simple measure of complementarily and consistency. Recently, a few papers have challenged this view, suggesting that a broader range of brand attributes (such as personality, functional and hedonic characteristics, cultural meaning) should also be considered when investigating brand alliances. The current study draws on these findings, exploring the fit between partners’ brand images and how they influence perceptions of a brand alliance. We treat brand image as a multi-dimensional construct, consisting of economic, symbolic, sensory, futuristic and utilitarian elements. Using an experimental design with nine hypothetical brand pairings with 221 respondents, we find brand image fit provides greater explanatory power over a traditional unidimensional measure of brand fit, with economic, futuristic and utilitarian dimensions having a significant influence on co-brand perceptions.

The impact of brand image fit on attitude towards a brand alliance

Kingston University, Kingston-upon-Thames, UK

Management & Marketing

This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 3.0 License.

{"article-title":"The impact of brand image fit on attitude towards a brand alliance"}

Co-branding has become an increasingly popular strategy over recent decades. Studies have found that the pre-existing attitudes to the parent brands, fit...

The impact of brand image fit on attitude towards a brand alliance

Published Online: Mar 19, 2016

Page range: 270 - 283

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1515/mmcks-2015-0018

Keywords
co-branding, brand alliance, brand image, brand fit, partial-least squares

© 2015 Debra Riley et al., published by De Gruyter Open

This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 3.0 License.

The impact of brand image fit on attitude towards a brand alliance

Published Online: Mar 19, 2016

Page range: 270 - 283

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1515/mmcks-2015-0018

Keywordsco-branding, brand alliance, brand image, brand fit, partial-least squares

© 2015 Debra Riley et al., published by De Gruyter Open

This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 3.0 License.

Keywords
co-branding, brand alliance, brand image, brand fit, partial-least squares