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Co-branding is an important branding strategy that bolsters brand image and brand awareness (Voss and Tansuhaj, 1999). Co-branding is when two brands cooperate to form a partnership; it is the practice of using multiple brand names on a single product or service (Grossman and Till, 1998). Prior research on co-branding has identified a variety of antecedents that lead to co-branding success. These factors focus on the effects of “perceived fit” (i.e. similarity) on co-branding, including product category fit (i.e. similar product categories) and brand image fit (i.e. brand associations are congruent) (Aaker and Keller, 1990; Bhat and Reddy, 2001; Park et al., 1991; Simonin and Ruth, 1998). However, literature is silent on the concept of brand identity (BI) fit.
BI fit is the perceived congruence/incongruence between two brands’ cultural meanings. BI contains rich, cultural relationships and meanings that are not characterized in other brand associations (e.g. brand personality, brand concept) (Burmann et al., 2009; Harris and de Chernatony, 2001). Often, co-branding marketers place heavy emphasis on functional benefits and product category fit between two brands, whereas cultural fit of brands is often ignored. As cultural differences between two companies have significant influence on co-branding (Chang, 2009; Wright et al., 2007), the purpose of this research is to investigate the role of BI fit on consumers’ attitudes toward co-branding and loyalty of a focal brand. Additionally, this research examines how consumers cope with low or high BI fit co-branding pairs.
In addition to proposing that BI fit plays an important part in co-branding success, the extent to which consumers identify with the brand should also factor into shaping consumer attitudes. Consumer-brand (C-B) identification is the degree to which the consumer feels connected to a brand and defines him/herself in terms of that brand (Bhattacharya et al., 1995; Ashforth and Mael, 1989). A person high in C-B identification (e.g. fans/maniacs) identifies strongly with cultural dimensions of the brand, whereas a person low in C-B identification places less regard on the cultural aspects of the brands. Given the varying levels of cultural connections that consumers have with brands, we test for the moderating role of C-B identification on the relationship between BI fit and co-branding attitudes (and loyalty). Understanding this theoretical link provides...