Research On The Influence Mechanism Of Co-branding Type On New Product Evaluation

Facing the superimposed impact of the world’s unprecedented major changes in a century and the unprecedented major epidemic in a century,China urgently needs to improve its innovation and development ability,adapt to the requirements of highquality development in the new development stage,and help build a new development pattern.As an important feature of high-quality development,brand is the due meaning of implementing the new development concept and building a new development pattern.The CPC Central Committee and the State Council attach great importance to brand development.In 2017,the State Council will establish May 10 as "China brand day".Premier Li Keqiang has made important instructions on China brand day activities,emphasizing the need to strengthen brand construction,continuously improve the quality and influence of Chinese products and services,and create more famous and high-quality brands.However,it should be noted that China’s brands are generally faced with challenges such as low popularity,low recognition and weak influence in the international market.The international influence of China’s brand enterprises can not meet the level of China’s economic and social development and the needs of international cooperation.Brand development is taking the domestic cycle as the main body.There is still great potential and room for improvement in the new development pattern of mutual promotion of domestic and international double cycles.Therefore,how to carry out brand innovation,create new brands and brand names with higher added value,produce more brand products with novel design and excellent quality,and give full play to the leading role of brand has become the focus of China’s business and academic circles.As an important form of brand innovation strategy,co-branding plays an important role in improving product quality and building famous brands.In the early stage,enterprises mainly launched new products with a single brand.However,with brand homogenization and diversified consumer demand,more and more enterprises gradually broke through the original boundary and looked for cooperation outside their own brand.Specifically,co-branding refers to the practice that two(or more)enterprises with different products and brands jointly create a new product or brand through cooperation.Among them,the new product jointly produced by the two cooperative brands is called the co-branded new product,and the co-branded new product belongs to the host brand.Another brand that participates in co-branding is the modifier brand(or partner brand).Compared with the launch of new products by private brands,co-branding can make use of the unique advantages of the cooperative brands to break through the ceiling of brand equity improvement.Therefore,this strategy has been widely used.In practice,there are two main types of co-branding strategy adopted by enterprises.One is categorical similarity co-branding,that is,a brand chooses another brand of similar product categories to cooperate,and the products of the two brands have common characteristics.For example,car brand Ford and motorcycle brand Harley jointly produce a new pickup truck,the core function of both brands is transportation.The other is thematic similarity co-branding,that is,one brand chooses different categories,but another brand with similar themes,and the two brands play different roles in the same scene linked by time,space or function.For example,mobile phone brand Apple and sports brand Nike jointly produce smart watches.Mobile phones and sports shoes of the two brands often appear in the same scene.For example,consumers usually use mobile phones to count mileage or listen to music when running.However,from the perspective of the specific results of enterprise implementation,the effect of co-branding is quite different.Some enterprises have achieved success and obtained large profits,while some enterprises not only failed to achieve the expected effect,but also affected the reputation of the original brand and product.Moreover,even in the face of the same co-branding,people may also show different attitudes.So what are the reasons for the different reactions of consumers to co-branding? Why can some enterprises improve the market performance of their brands while some enterprises not only fail to promote the main brand but also severely reduce the benefits of the original brand? How should enterprises choose to play a more active role in the face of the two co-branding strategies? These are the questions to be solved in this field,which are also the research questions focused in this paper.As an important innovation strategy of enterprises,co-branding has exerted a profound influence on marketing practice.Academics have also paid attention to the influence of co-branding and carried out some researches on it.Previous researches on consumers’ reaction to the new products of co-branding mostly focused on the influence of brand factors,such as the matching degree,correlation degree,closeness degree and brand awareness.But the influence of co-branding promotion strategy selection has been ignored.Moreover,the existing research has not yet formed a scientific and systematic theoretical framework for the internal mechanism of co-branding type influence on consumers’ new product evaluation.In addition,previous studies generally believe that co-branding can have a positive impact,such as improving the perceived quality of products,brand image and awareness,and increasing the value proposition of brands.Although some scholars also pay attention to the potential risks of cobranding,which may damage the brand image of the cooperative brand and interfere with the brand memory.However,the existing research has not provided a favorable explanation for how to alleviate the negative impact of co-branding on cooperative brands.Through in-depth analysis of 110 co-branding cases in business practice,this paper summarizes two types of co-branding based on previous studies.It is found that for different types of co-branding,some enterprises have achieved success,while others have failed to gain positive market response,and further analyzes the reasons for the success of co-branding.In view of this,based on concept combination theory,information processing fluency theory and brand association theory,this paper explores the effect of co-branding and its influencing factors,and forms a theoretical construction of the influence process of co-branding type on new product evaluation.Specifically speaking,this paper focuses on the following aspects: First,what factors will affect the co-branding type evaluation of the co-branded new products? Second,what is the internal mechanism of co-branding type influencing the new product evaluation of co-branded? Third,how does the different types of co-branding affect the evaluation of new products of host brand? Does it have a negative impact on the new product evaluation of the weak brand? Fourth,how to alleviate and reverse the negative impact?Focusing on the above main problems,this paper discusses the core problem of "the influence mechanism of different type of co-branding on co-branded new product evaluation".This paper mainly includes seven parts.In the first chapter,combining the practical background and theoretical background,the research problems are clarified,establish the main content,theoretical and practical significance,possible innovation points,research methods and ideas of this paper are established,and establish the overall research framework of this paper.In the second chapter,on the basis of collecting and reviewing literatures related to co-branding research,consumer cognition research and new product evaluation research at home and abroad.Summarizing and sort out the viewpoints of existing researches in this field,and make comments.In the third chapter,co-branding type is clearly defined and classified,and co-branding type is taken as independent variables and new product evaluation as dependent variables.Combined with theoretical analysis and logical reasoning,mediating variables and possible moderating variables are gradually determined,which leads to the research model of this paper and puts forward related research hypotheses.Chapters 4 to 6,experimental methods are used to test the research model and the proposed research hypothesis in this paper.According to the steps and processes of the experimental method,and combined with the relevant studies of predecessors,the experimental design was carried out to determine the control and measurement methods of stimuli,experimental subjects and variables.Through the pre-experiment and formal experiment,the samples needed for the research are finally collected.Next,the collected experimental data were collected and analyzed,including descriptive statistical analysis,reliability and validity analysis,variance analysis and regression analysis,etc.,to test the model hypothesis.In the seven chapter,on the basis of the above empirical analysis,the main research conclusions of this paper are summarized and discussed in depth,and the research innovations and management inspirations of this paper are illustrated.Finally,the existing limitations and future research prospects are put forward.In general,the main research conclusions of this paper are as follows:First,co-brandcoing type and enterprise interpretation strategy have interactive effects on the new product evaluation.Attribute interpretation strategy is beneficial to improve consumers’ evaluation of new products under categorical similarity cobranding,and relation interpretation strategy is beneficial to improve consumers’ evaluation of new products under thematic similarity co-branding.This is because there are many commonalities and comparable differences between brands of similar categories,and enterprises adopt attribute interpretation strategy,so spillover effect is more likely to be activated.Cooperative brands with similar themes play different roles in the same scene and share external relations.By adopting relational interpretation strategy,consumers perceive stronger cohesion between cooperative brands,which further affects consumers’ evaluation of new products.Secondly,information processing fluency plays a mediating role in the interaction between co-branding type and interpretation strategy on the influence of new product evaluation.The results showed that information processing fluency acted as a "mediator",that is,the interaction between co-branding type and interpretation strategy could improve consumers’ evaluation of new products by influencing consumers’ processing fluency.This is because when the enterprise’s explanation strategy is in line with consumers’ information processing mode,consumers will believe that the information they are exposed to is beneficial and trustworthy,and the information processing is more fluent,which is conducive to positive preference judgment.Thirdly,there are significant differences in the thinking patterns of consumers in the influence of different types of brand association on new product evaluation.The results show that,compared with consumers with global mindset,consumers with local mindset are more fluent in the information processing for categorical similarity cobranding.Compared with consumers with local mindset,consumers with global mindset are more fluent in the information processing for thematic similarity cobranding.Fourth,weak brands cooperate with strong brands,and weak brands cannot get spillover effect.According to the adaptive learning theory,when a strong brand is combined with a weak brand,because the strong brand’s cue is stronger,it will block or cover the cue originally belonging to the weak brand in the competition with the weak brand’s cue.Although strong brands can gain more predictive value,it will reduce the predictive value and brand equity of weak brands,and further dilute the new products of weak brands.Fifthly,the realization of high tightness co-branding is the key to reverse the negative evaluation of new products of weak brands.When a high degree of closeness between brands is carried out,consumers will acquire promotional cues in the process of participating in learning,thus enhancing the association strength between the cooperative brand and the new product.When the co-branding closeness is low,consumers will get competitive cues in the learning process of categorical similarity co-branding.Strong brand will hinder the connection between weak brand and the performance of product,reduce the perception of weak brand’s ability,and is not conducive to the evaluation of new products of weak brand.For the thematic similarity co-branding,consumers have less expectation for the technical support from the partner brand to the host brand,so it has less negative impact on the weak new products.Sixth,brand width is a prerequisite for the successful co-branding of weak brands.Because a higher brand width is conducive to weak brands to obtain clues that are unrelated to strong brands and do not compete with them,the diversity of product categories is conducive to activate other resources of weak brands,and further alleviate the negative evaluation of new products of weak brands.When the brand width of the weak brand is narrow,consumers tend to think that the strong brand contributes more for thematic similarity co-branding,and they are skeptical about the ability of the weak brand to produce new products alone,which is not conducive to the evaluation of its new products.For the categorical similarity co-branding,consumers’ perception of shared elements between cooperative brands is higher than the thematic similarity cobranding,and the dilution effect is weaker than that of thematic similarity co-branding.Compared with the existing researches,this paper further develops and enriches the theoretical system of co-branding,and its main research contributions and innovations are reflected in the following aspects:First,this paper enriches the existing literature on the selection of co-branding explanatory strategies and consumer evaluation of new co-branding products.Previous researches on consumers’ reaction to the new products of co-branding mostly focused on the influence of brand factors,such as the matching degree,correlation degree,closeness degree and brand awareness.This paper finds that consumers’ evaluation of co-branding new products is not only influenced by the brand itself,but also the interpretation strategy adopted by enterprises to gain consumers’ recognition is a crucial factor.At the same time,processing mindset affect whether consumers pay more attention to detailed information or overall information.That is to say,for different types of co-branding,consumers in different processing mindsets have different understandings of the value of co-branding.Therefore,from the perspective of enterprise and consumer,this paper introduces enterprise interpretation strategy and consumer processing mindset to examine the boundary conditions of co-branding type on the evaluation of new products,and enriches the existing mechanism model of cobranding effect.Second,this paper makes up for the theoretical deficiencies in the field of cobranding strategy selection.This paper introduces the information processing fluency theory in cognitive psychology into the research of co-branding and reveals the internal mechanism of consumers’ response to co-branding.Previous studies have only suggested that co-branding influence consumers’ attitudes and behaviors,but the internal mechanism remains unclear.Based on the theory of information processing fluency,this paper argues that enterprise jointly take appropriate explanation towards different types of co-branding strategy,brand and enterprise according to different types of co-branding launch the appropriate consumer processing mindset,because when access to information and information processing mode matching,can smoothly to understand and accept the message,which is conducive to a positive preference judgment.Therefore,the introduction of information processing fluency is the deepening and improvement of the theoretical system of co-branding,and provides a new way to explain the influence of co-branding type on the evaluation of new products.Thirdly,this paper expands the research scope of co-branding effect.Previous researches on co-branding mainly focus on the positive influence of co-branding on cooperative brands.However,when brands with different awareness,co-branding may also have negative influence on cooperative brands,especially on weak cooperative brands.Based on the theory of brand association of the adaptive learning model,this paper prediect and found that when the strong brand cooperate with the weak brand,due to the strong brand has more clues,will cover the weak brand clues in the competition,further reduce the predictive value of weak brands,and make negative influence on the weak brand new products.This makes up for the lack of cooperative brand perspective of existing co-branding effect and enriches the research on existing co-branding effect.Fourthly,this paper finds out the key factors to alleviate the negative impact of co-branding type on new products of weak brands.In the existing researches on cobranding,there are no favorable explanations for how to alleviate the negative effects of different types of co-branding on cooperative brands.This paper finds that cobranding closeness and brand width are the key factors to reverse the negative impact of co-branding on new products of weak brands.Specifically,when the co-branding closeness is high,both categorical similarity co-branding and thematic similarity cobranding can improve consumers’ perception of brand competence,and then improve consumers’ evaluation of new products of weak brands.When co-branding closeness is low,thematic similarity co-branding gives higher evaluation to new products of weak brands than categorical similarity co-branding.At the same time,when the weak brand has a variety of different types of products,the ability of consumers to perceive the weak brand to produce new products is higher,which is conducive to the promotion of the new product evaluation of the weak brand.When the product category of the weak brand is single,the evaluation of the new product of the weak brand by thematic similarity co-branding is lower than that by categorical similarity co-branding.Therefore,this paper explores the reverse mechanism of the negative influence of cobranding on the new products of weak brands,which is to deepen and perfect the theoretical system of co-branding.The research conclusion of this paper has the following guiding significance for enterprises to implement co-branding strategy.First,enterprises should pay attention to the similarity and relevance between cooperative brands when carrying out co-branding.As an important part of enterprise marketing strategy,co-branding has been widely used,and has gradually become an important means for enterprises to enhance brand assets.Therefore,enterprises are eager to know how to choose the appropriate brand alliance strategy.According to the research conclusion of this paper,enterprises can not only combine their own product and brand characteristics,pay attention to the similarity of product categories,attributes and functions among cooperative brands,select brands with similar categories for joint cooperation.We can also pay attention to the relevance of product use and function play among cooperative brands,and select brands with similar themes for joint cooperation,so as to achieve cross-border business breakthrough.Therefore,carry out co-branding and select the appropriate brand alliance strategy according to the development stage and product category of the enterprise.Second,when choosing different co-branding strategies,enterprises should formulate corresponding promotion strategies.When enterprises combine brands with similar categories,they should position the promotion strategy as attribute interpretation.With the help of various promotion forms,enterprises guide consumers to recall and pay attention to the attribute advantages of each cooperative brand,so that consumers can compare,match,combine and associate the original attributes of the two brands.Understanding and recognizing the combination attributes or new attributes of new products,and form a positive attitude and evaluation towards new products.When enterprises combine brands with similar themes,they should position the promotion strategy as relation interpretation.With the help of various promotion forms,enterprises guide consumers to pay attention to abstract information such as the similarity of users between cooperative brand products,the logical relationship of functions and the same space-time situation used,so as to enhance consumers’ perception of the cooperative brand relationship and identify the internal relevance of the two brands.Therefore,to ensure the success of brand alliance,different interpretation strategies shall be adopted according to different types of alliance,and the product use experience and feeling shall be consistent with the understood and recognized promotion information and the customer’s information processing method.Third,when enterprises promote new products through co-branding,they should pay attention to make co-branding type fit with consumer processing mindset.Specifically,when carrying out categorical similarity co-branding,the enterprise can let consumers read the relevant introduction of new products and use specific and detailed information to describe the products.Enterprises can also provide consumers with trial fittings of new products and invite consumers to participate in performance tests of new products,so as to start consumers’ local mindset,enhance their understanding of the significance of co-branding,and further improve their evaluation of new co-branded products.When carrying out thematic similarity co-branding,enterprises can let consumers read the relevant introduction of new products,and use general and abstract information to describe the products and give them indirect product experience,so as to start the global mindset.Make consumers pay attention to the overall and abstract information,improve the fluency of information processing,and further enhance consumers’ positive response to new products.Further enhance consumers’ positive response to joint brand new products.Therefore,promote the cobranding and select appropriate target customers according to the co-branding type,so that users can smoothly understand and recognize the promotion information and joint significance,and ensure that the publicity positioning is consistent with the product positioning and brand positioning.Fourth,enterprises should guide consumers to make positive evaluation through in-depth cooperation.According to the research conclusion of this paper,in order to achieve the success of brand alliance,in addition to presenting the brand names or brand logos of the two enterprises on the new products,the key is to carry out in-depth cooperation,that is,the two sides of the cooperative brands communicate and interweave with each other in terms of technology,personnel and capital,and integrate the advantages and characteristics of the two brands into the new products of the joint brand.Making new products closely connected in form,function and service provision,with creation and innovation,so that new products not only have the existing attribute traces of cooperative brands,but also have the new characteristics and attributes of cobrand.Because highly integrated close cooperation can make full use of the market position and reputation advantages of both cooperative brands to convey product quality,performance and brand image,which means that cooperative brands are interdependent and matched with each other,making consumers more believe that their unique advantages can be concentrated in the co-brand,Each cooperative brand has made great contributions to the co-brand,and is more recognized for the new products of weak main brands.If users can further understand how the resources and capabilities of each brand are finally used,co-branding is an effective way for enterprises to carry out product innovation and improve market competitiveness.Fifth,when implementing co-branding,enterprises should pay attention to the diversity of product categories related to brands.If the enterprise is an unknown weak brand,it should increase the diversity of product categories,because when the enterprise has a variety of different product categories,it is conducive for unknown brands to obtain clues that are not related to and do not compete with well-known brands,activate other resources of unknown brands and enhance consumers’ perception of weak host brands.When an enterprise has a single product category,it should choose cooperative brands with similar categories,because for the weak host brands with a single product category,there are fewer sharing elements between cooperative brands,and consumers will think that the strong brands contribute more to the co-brand,so they doubt the ability of the weak host brand.Therefore,enterprises should not only combine the characteristics of their own brand and appropriately increase different product categories,but also think that the key and fundamental is to obtain consumers’ recognition.Sixth,according to the development stage and product types of the enterprise,realizing comprehensive positioning is the key to the success of co-branding.In reality,many enterprises look forward to product innovation and cross-border expansion to improve market competitiveness,but they are weak and difficult to cope with long-term investment.Therefore,more and more enterprises gradually break through the original boundary and begin to look for cooperation outside their own brands,and form phenomena such as brand alliance with similar categories,brand alliance with similar themes,strong strong alliance,strong with weak alliance,etc.Through this,enterprises want to have a clear inherent connection and existing popularity between cooperative brands,directly affect consumers’ rapid acceptance of new products.Moreover,the existing literature and research have also verified this effect.But the problem is that in reality,not all brand alliances can achieve market success.Therefore,the premise for enterprises to carry out brand alliance,give new attributes to co-brands,scientifically analyze the market,accurately grasp user needs,and position the market and products.In order to ensure the success of brand alliance,enterprises combine their own products and brand characteristics to achieve comprehensive positioning is the key.Through indepth cooperation with other enterprises,establish co-brand,give full play to the existing characteristics and advantages of cooperative brands,further accurately communicate the positioning information of new products to the market,obtain consumers’ understanding,recognition and trust,and win the success of co-branding.