Better Be Certified : Understanding Certification Cobrand and Price Effects on Product Evaluations

“Certification cobrand strategy” is using a certification seal of approval or a certification brand with the primary brand on a product. A certification cobrand is permitted only when a third party certifies the product has met a specific standard after thorough testing. Drawing on signaling theory, this research is among the first to investigate how a certification cobrand influences consumers' evaluations of the product's quality and their willingness to buy. This research extends the concept of cobranding to a common practice, certification, the effects of which have not received much previous research attention. A second extension to cobranding research is the integration of price to help explain the effects on consumer behavior. The differential effects of combining a certification cobrand with familiar and unfamiliar primary brands at different prices are examined