Brand positioning as a determinant of consumer attitudes towards co-brands

The popularity of co-branding as a brand management strategy has led to several studies measuring consumer attitudes towards co-brands. However the impact of positioning strategies of the partner brands on co-brand attitudes has not been investigated yet, despite the evidence that positioning strategies impact brand associations and consequently brand attitude evaluation. We introduce and test a new measure, the positioning fit, by calculating the differences and similarities in the consumer perceptions of partner brands‘ positioning strategies. Employing a quasi-experimental design, we investigate pathways based on PLS-SEM. The results demonstrate that positioning fit is a determinant of consumer evaluation towards co-brands.