Modeling the Effects of Corporate Images and Brand Images on Brand Alliance Evaluation: A Contingency Approach

Previous research on consumer evaluation of brand alliances focused on the role played by brand-related perceptions in shaping attitude toward alliance. The present study proposes that consumer perceptions of the allying firms, that is, corporate images of alliance partners, are also likely to be instrumental in shaping consumer attitude toward brand alliances. Based on extant research, two conceptual models of alliance evaluation are presented and propositions related to the effects of corporate images are developed. In one of the proposed models, both brand-related and firm-related perceptions are shown to contribute to alliance evaluation. In the other proposed model, only firm-related perceptions are shown to contribute to alliance evaluation. A contingency approach to model salience is suggested whereby it is proposed that certain circumstantial factors (conditions) determine which model would be the most potent (salient) in explaining consumer attitude toward brand alliance. The conditions that guide model salience may arise out of artifacts related to empirical research procedures that use fictitious entities and also out of consumers’ cognitive and/or experiential knowledge and perceptions of real brands and firms.