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Image Reinforcement or Impairment: The Effects of Co-Branding on Attribute Uncertainty

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  • Tansev Geylani

    (Katz Graduate School of Business, University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania 15260)

  • J. Jeffrey Inman

    (Katz Graduate School of Business, University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania 15260)

  • Frenkel Ter Hofstede

    (McCombs School of Business, The University of Texas at Austin, Austin, Texas 78712)

Abstract

Co-branding is often used by companies to reinforce the image of their brands. In this paper, we investigate the conditions under which a brand's image is reinforced or impaired as a result of co-branding, and the characteristics of a good partner for a firm considering co-branding for image reinforcement. We address these issues by conceptualizing attribute beliefs as two-dimensional constructs: The first dimension reflects the expected value of the attribute, while the second dimension reflects the degree of certainty about the attribute. We argue that these parameters are updated after consumers are exposed to a co-branding activity, and we develop an analytical model that incorporates these notions. An analysis of the model leads to several propositions, which we test in an experiment. Our findings indicate that it is not necessarily in a brand's best interest to choose an alliance partner that is of the highest performance possible. Moreover, we find that, while expected values of the brand attributes may improve as a result of co-branding, under certain conditions the uncertainty associated with the brands increases through the alliance. Implications for co-branding researchers and practitioners are discussed.

Suggested Citation

  • Tansev Geylani & J. Jeffrey Inman & Frenkel Ter Hofstede, 2008. "Image Reinforcement or Impairment: The Effects of Co-Branding on Attribute Uncertainty," Marketing Science, INFORMS, vol. 27(4), pages 730-744, 07-08.
    • Handle: RePEc:inm:ormksc:v:27:y:2008:i:4:p:730-744
    DOI: 10.1287/mksc.1070.0326
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    References listed on IDEAS

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