Conceptualising cross-category brand in emerging country context: merging associative network memory model and resource based view.

Abstract

Brand alliances between the brands from different categories are increasingly becoming popular (Smarandescu, Rose and Wedell, 2013). This is particular relevant to the emerging countries context where multinational brands due to strong impact of cultural and country-specific political and economic governance policies are establishing cross-category brand alliances with local brands to gain brand success and customer loyalty. Existing studies investigated cross-category brand alliances according to the aspects of brand order, consumer ethnocentrism, the country of origin and brand familiarity. However, these studies primarily incorporate end-user impact factors in measuring and understanding the cross-category brand alliances performance. Brands as business perspective is required to understand the impacts of brand resources and attributes on the cross-category brand alliance. This study focuses on the cross-category brand alliances and attempts to develop a framework to measure the performance of cross-category brand alliances. The framework constructs are derived from Associative Network Memory (ANM) Model and Resource Based View (RBV) theories. The framework is developed by evaluating the interviews with the marketing managers of brands in the brand alliance case studies from an emerging country, Turkey.