The effects of sensory fit on consumer evaluations of co-branding

Abstract

While previous co-branding research sheds light on the effects of perceived fit between partner brands, the findings have been limited to only two types of perceived fit: product category and brand image fit. This research suggests the importance of sensory fit and examines how it affects evaluations of co-branding. Three experiments were conducted to reveal the effects of sensory fit on consumer evaluations of co-branding. The findings demonstrate that sensory fit significantly influences the evaluation of co-branding (Experiments 1, 2, and 3). In addition, it shows stronger effects when the co-branded product is a low- (vs. high-) involvement product (Experiment 2). Further, the findings suggest that the sensory fit effect is stronger for high-involvement and hedonic products (Experiment 3). These findings provide additional empirical evidence for the theoretical explanations of the fit effect in the branding literature and managerial insights into the design of effective collaboration between brands.