The effects of cross-border strategic brand alliance on consumer product evaluation

This dissertation study examined the effect of country-of-origin (COO) fit onconsumer brand attitude in cross-border strategic brand alliance (SBA). Also, this studyinvestigated the effects of consumer product knowledge by dividing it into subjective andobjective knowledge dimensions. It was found that cross-border SBA can be a viablemarket entry strategy for host and partner brands. Specifically, cross-border SBA createspositive synergistic effects when the COO fit is high. In addition, in a low COO fitsituation, the partner brand suffering from less favorable country image would be able tobenefit from the established brand equity of the host brand and thus gain favorableconsumer product evaluation. Also, consumers with low and high product knowledge aremore likely to be affected by COO fit information than those with moderate productknowledge. It was found that subjective knowledge is more related to consumerheuristics and decision making processes than objective knowledge. Implications andsuggestions for future research in this area are provided.