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Negative spillover effects in brand cooperation

Journal of Business Economics volume 84, pages 1087–1109 (2014)Cite this article

Abstract

This research investigates negative spillover effects on brand trust and purchase intentions due to violations of implicit or explicit rules within brand cooperation (transgressions). In particular, this research examines a joint new product launch activity of a focal brand and a partner brand. Study 1, an experimental study with brand community members of the focal brand and different transgression scenarios, reveals fewer spillover effects on the focal brand when the partner brand is responsible for the transgression, and discovers more negative spillover effects on the partner brand when the focal brand causes the transgression. In other words, brand community members transfer the responsibility for the transgression to an external cause. Study 2 explores different forms of crisis communication in the context of a product launch delay and finds that a denial by the focal brand is more effective with respect to image restoration than a denial by the partner brand. However, when both brands deny responsibility at the same time, the denial negatively influences trust in both brands.

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Notes

  1. The interbrand ranking of 2010 (the year in which the study was conducted) puts the producer as number 34 (11,356$m) of Global Brands and the retailer as number 36 (9,665$m): http://issuu.com/interbrand/docs/bgb_report_us_version.

  2. http://www.nbcnews.com/technology/playstation-4-xbox-one-pre-orders-sold-out-most-major-6C10621730.

  3. Palmatier et al. (2009) use two additional items for measuring purchase intentions. Since these items address purchase intentions in different times, only one item was chosen. For further details see Rossiter (2002, p. 313–314). The reliability of the single-item measure is indicated by cross validation: Study 1 finds no differences between initial measures of purchase intentions in three independent experimental groups, neither regarding the focal brand, nor in respect to the partner brand.

  4. To assess discriminant validity of measures respectively common method bias in the survey data, two Harman’s single-factor tests were performed (one for each comparison), following the procedure outlined by Podsakoff and Organ (1986). In this test, all items in the research model were entered into a principal components factor analysis resulting in two factors with Eigen values >1 in each comparison. Since no single factor emerged as a dominant factor accounting for most of the variance, no substantial common method bias was indicated. A correlation matrix is reported in the appendix, Table 4.

  5. Subjects were asked for the launch delay at the end of the questionnaire. 16.3 % of the subjects did not remember a launch delay, indicating a successful manipulation of the other subjects.

  6. A polynomial function with a linear (p < 0.01) and a cubic coefficient (p = 0.01), that were tested independently from each other, fits the data from Study 1, Comparison 2 slightly better than a linear function: R 2linear  = 0.42, F = 147.41, p < 0.01; R 2polynomial  = 0.43, F = 52.48, p < 0.01; ΔR2 = 0.017, p = 0.01.

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Acknowledgments

The author is indebted to Tania von der Heidt, Jan Kratzer, and Jana Möller for their helpful comments and suggestions.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. School of Economics and Management (H76), Technische Universität Berlin, Straße des 17. Juni 135, 10623, Berlin, Germany

    Steffen Herm

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  1. Steffen Herm
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Correspondence to Steffen Herm.

Appendix

Appendix

See Tables 3, 4, 5 and Fig. 8.

Table 3 Descriptives of Study 1
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Table 4 Correlations of Study 1
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Table 5 The development of brand trust with time in Study 2
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Fig. 8
figure 8

Differences in brand trust in transgressing brand influence differences in purchase intentions concerning this brand

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Herm, S. Negative spillover effects in brand cooperation. J Bus Econ 84, 1087–1109 (2014). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11573-014-0711-y

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Keywords

  • Negative spillover
  • Launch delay
  • Intergroup attribution
  • Denial
  • Prisoner’s dilemma

JEL Classification

  • M310