Co-branding as a strategy to influence consumer brand perceptions and attitudes through leveraging a strong brand

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to establish whether co-branding could be adopted as a strategy for leveraging the favourable perceptions and attitudes of the strong constituent brand onto the co-brand, and, onto the weaker constituent brand. The study used a quantitative research methodology where the data is founded on the results from 369 surveys conducted in Johannesburg. The data was analysed using the independent t-test to accept or reject the proposed hypothesis. Using the Trust Based Commitment Model, the findings of this study show that customers’ commitment to the brand influences them to engage in more loyalty behaviours than those customers in mere functional or personal relationships with the brand. The implication of the results in this study is that the consumer’s commitment to the brand leads them to exhibit loyalty behaviours towards the brand, with the adoption of co-branded products being a possible outcome. As the study is limited to the impact of leveraging a strong sporting brand amongst the adult black male consumer segment in Johannesburg, the study cannot be used to make any inferences on the viability of adopting co-branding to leverage the strength of sporting brands amongst other consumer segments in South Africa.