Consumer Evaluation of Brand Alliance Under Distraction: An Abstract

Abstract

A brand alliance involves “two or more brand names {that} are featured simultaneously in a product context” (Rao et al. 1999, p. 259). Previous research suggests that a consumer’s evaluation of a previously unknown focal brand is more positive when that brand is partnered with a known product brand ally than with no ally (e.g., Rao et al. 1999; Washburn et al. 2004; Voss and Gammoh 2004; Gammoh et al. 2010). However, there is some reason to suggest that brand alliance cues may be a relatively weak communication device. For example, Desai and Keller (2002) found that for slot-filler extensions, brands did better over time without an ally. In this research, we examine the effect of mental distraction on consumer evaluations of the focal brand in a brand alliance.