Co-branded

Relationship between brand equity, brand association, and co-branding

Brand name indicates the customer about their connection with the brand based on information or experience. Brand equity defines the association of consumer towards a brand name. The original brand name is familiar among the customers, whereas the co-branded brand is still new. There are plenty of associations of consumers towards co-branded products. Therefore, the customer’s use constituent brand information when there is absence of new brand formed by co-branding. When there is a negative image caused by one of the constituent brand, it also affects the other constituent brand. Brand equity can be damaged by pairing up with a brand which may have negative image in future. Brand association is developed over the years by repeated experiences and exposures. It helps customers gather information, differentiate it and come to a buying decision. Co-branding can either improve or destroy customer’s perception of each constituent brands and create a new perception for the co-branded product. Research suggests that the dissimilarity between co-branding organizations (company size, company origin country, industry scale) negatively affect the performance of co-branding organizations.