Building brands through brand alliances: combining warranty information with a brand ally

Purpose – While previous research has shown a positive influence of a brand ally or a warranty, published research has not explored the effects of using multiple types of quality signals. The purpose of this paper is to explore the joint effect of a default‐independent signal (i.e. a brand ally) combined with a default‐contingent signal (i.e. a warranty) on the focal brand's evaluations. Design/methodology/approach – This paper reports the findings of a 2 (ally: none vs one) × 2 (warranty: no vs yes) between‐subjects factorial design in which 174 subjects were randomly assigned to experimental conditions. Findings – The study's findings indicate that, individually, both brand alliance and warranty were a significant signal of product quality. However, the use of multiple types of signals, as opposed to one signal, did not add incrementally to consumer's perceived quality evaluations of a focal brand. In addition, risk reduction mediated the effects of brand ally and/or warranty on the focal brand's evaluations. Originality/value – Recently, researchers have started to explore the influence of multiple brand alliance signals on consumer evaluations of brand. However, only the same type of signal has been examined. Signaling theory suggests that other marketing mix elements are marketplace signals of quality. This study contributes to the literature by investigating the role of multiple types of quality signals in brand building.