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Conspicuously absent from the branding literature is research on the brand-to-brand (Br2Br) interface enabled by social media. The author proposes how networked brands-as-actors integrate their resources as Br2Br interactions that co-create consumer–brand value. As a secondary contribution, the author provides an empirical baseline exploration of the value co-creating impact of Br2Br interactions on consumer–brand evaluations and social media engagement.

Three streams of research aid in conceptualizing the value co-creating process of Br2Br interactions. A follow-up exploratory study uses a controlled Br2Br interaction stimulus in a 2 × 2 × 2 between-subjects design, where brand familiarity and product category complementarity are manipulated, and interaction spillover effects are analyzed using structural equation modeling.

The author finds Br2Br interactions positively affect consumer–brand evaluations and social media engagement likelihood. Spillover effects of these interactions are symmetric for consumer–brand evaluations for both brands. However, brand familiarity moderates the effects of Br2Br interactions on consumer–brand evaluations.

The author lays the groundwork for future research on the complexities of Br2Br interactions – including brand personality conflict, interaction duration and paratextual language – and the boundary conditions for Br2Br and brand-to-consumer relationships.

Research on strategic alliances is concerned with two issues: continuation and reconfiguration. Building on prior research that examines the two issues separately, the paper studies them simultaneously. This paper aims to investigate how strategic alliances may exert the synergetic effect between dynamics and stability as well as to discuss the dynamic evolution process and influence factors of strategic alliances.

This paper describes the construction of a two-party evolutionary game model of alliance and partners. The model is used to analyze the evolution process of synergetic mechanism to determine when to terminate and when to continue with a partnership. Further, numerical simulation is used to quantify the results and to gain insight into the effects of various factors on the dynamic evolution of the synergetic mechanism.

This paper reveals several synergetic states of dynamics and stability in the alliances. The results show that synergy states are positively affected by the collaborative innovation benefits, alliance management capability, the intensity of intellectual property protection, liquidated damages and reputation losses, and negatively affected by the absorptive capacity of partners.

The study helps the alliance to achieve long-term development as well as to balance the paradoxical relationship. The results suggest that managers of strategic alliances should focus on building strong and long-term relationships in order to achieve high performance innovations. Managers should also pay close attention to their partners’ behaviors in previous alliances.

This paper provides new insights into the paradoxical relationship in alliance by revealing the evolution of synergetic mechanism between dynamics and stability. The results remind alliances to understand the relationship between dynamics and stability and to notice the influence factors of synergistic effects when they are making decisions.

It is only logical that a firm aims to make a profit after entering the market. However, some firms enter the market with the goal of market expansion and even burn money to pursue market share, which is counterintuitive in practice. To explore the theoretical foundations behind this rare phenomenon, this paper focuses on discussing the impact of the market expansion entry strategy on the entrant firm and the incumbent firm.

Using a game theory model of a supply chain with an incumbent and an entrant, this paper explores the mathematical conditions for the entrant to adopt either the traditional or the market expansion entry strategy and investigates the incumbent’s benefits and losses under different entry strategies.

The results show that when the market-expansion effect and the selling price ceiling are moderate, the entrant firm always adopts the market expansion entry strategy, and the incumbent firm obtains a free ride from the entrant firm and benefits from it. The entire industry profits and the industry consumer surplus are increased. In particular, we further investigate the cases in which the incumbent firm has a first-mover advantage or there is a troublesome cost, and the results confirm the aforementioned conclusions.

By considering market share as the entrant’s goal, this paper contributes to the dual-purpose literature. Moreover, based on the model’s mathematical results, this paper offers relevant management insights for the entrant and its stakeholders in the e-commerce platform.

This paper aims to understand how dual sustainable-labeling strategies influence perceived value dimensions (i.e. quality, emotional, social and price) across vice vs virtue products and level of consumers’ consideration of future consequences.

Two online experiments are conducted with private label brands: one with organic and Fairtrade labels and one with organic and local labels. For each experiment, a conditional process analysis was used with the labeling strategy (i.e. no label vs organic label vs Fairtrade/local label vs organic label + Fairtrade/local label) as the independent variable, the product types (i.e. vice vs virtue) and level of consideration of future consequences as moderators, the dimensions of perceived value (quality, emotional, social and price) as the dependent variables.

Dual sustainable-labeling strategies lead to higher positive perceived value levels on all dimensions compared to no-labeling strategy. They however do not necessarily lead to higher levels compared to mono-labeling strategies such as organic labeling strategy (except for social dimension). Additionally, the positive effect of dual sustainable-labeling is lower for virtue products compared to vice products and is stronger for consumers with high level of consideration of future consequences for vice products for the social-value dimension.

Prior research has focused on the effect of multi-labeling strategies on willingness to pay with mixed results. This study brings insights to literature by testing the impact of dual sustainable-labeling strategies on the dimensions of perceived value as well as the moderating effects of the product types and consideration of future consequences.

Bank–fintech associations are significant globally, establishing purposeful eco-systems towards extending and complementing capabilities, reach and customer experiences. This paper aims to explore 39 leading fintechs in India catering across payments, lending, wealth management, regulation, neo-banks and other banking functions. Alongside fintechs, the research studies 19 leading banks (public and private) to understand the nature of bank–fintech associations in the Indian context.

The research focuses on narratives from leading banks and top fintechs in India, captured from public disclosures and leadership interviews. The study leverages qualitative research techniques, including grounded theory approaches of inductive analysis, to codify interview and narrative observations to discover relevant objectives, scenarios, challenges and outcomes in India-centric bank–fintech associations.

Bank–fintech associations in India are increasingly focusing on financial services portfolio diversification and improvement in customer experience. Simultaneously, both banks and fintechs, differentiate with innovations and extend offerings to target underserved customer segments. The associations are beneficial for both banks and fintechs in transforming offerings and improving efficiency, scale across channels. Through codification of observations, review of existing literature and evaluation of best practices, alongside subject matter expertise, the study evolves a generalized “Association Model”. The model can steer meaningful bank–fintech associations in India and globally. The association model relates to observables like objectives, enablers of bank–fintech associations, challenges and association-driven value outcomes. Built from study of practices, the proposed model is relevant for strategic orientation in bank–fintech associations.

The findings reveal practices in bank–fintech associations in India with significant learning opportunity for organizational leaders globally. Understanding the nature of association is relevant for strategic interventions, particularly in scenarios of inter-organization collaborations. Central banks, policymakers, governments, investors, banks and fintechs can use the derived association model to establish, govern and steer purposeful value-driven associations.

While the value of stakeholder involvement in destination marketing and branding has been emphasized, little research has been conducted on the inner workings of collaborative initiatives. Based on the case of the Athens Tourism Partnership, Greece, this study aims to map the value co-creation process as it unfolds in joint destination marketing and branding initiatives.

To capture the way partners collaborated to create the brand of the city, this study collected data through participant observation and analyzed it using Classical Grounded Theory principles.

The study reveals the different types of relationships and their characteristics that develop when an airline-airport-destination authority partnership is established to enhance destination brand and the potential dynamics of the collaborative initiatives.

The FiNE framework has been developed and can guide stakeholders who wish to collaborate to co-create the destination brand. This study offers theoretical and practical implications for destination authorities and tourism stakeholders to initiate, manage and implement collaborative initiatives that may empower the destination brand and deliver win-win outcomes.

Chinese consumers' brand preferences are shifting from foreign sportswear brands to domestic ones. This indicates an increasingly strong relationship between Chinese consumers and domestic sportswear brands. The purpose of this study is to explore the spillover effect of Chinese domestic sportswear brands’ relationship quality to uncover the psychological mechanisms driving this preference shift.

The study used a brand relationship quality scale based on Chinese Confucian yuanfen culture, considering it as a second-order reflective-formative construct. The survey generated 326 valid responses online. Due to the presence of second-order reflective-formative construct in the variables, SmartPLS 4.0 was used for hypothesis testing.

Interaction belief, intimate interaction and happiness as formative dimensions of Confucian yuanfen brand relationship quality are validated, while emotional expression and tolerance are not. The Confucian yuanfen brand relationship quality has a spillover effect on product origin image and domestic sportswear brand preference. Product origin image has a mediating role between Confucian yuanfen brand relationship quality and domestic sportswear brand preference. However, consumer xenocentrism does not moderate the spillover effect of Confucian yuanfen brand relationship quality on domestic sportswear brand preference.

This study tests brand relationship quality from Confucian yuanfen perspective as a second-order reflective-formative construct. It contributes to understanding how Chinese consumers perceive their relationships with domestic sportswear brands. The results advance the current body of knowledge on brand relationship quality and spillover effect in sports marketing, indicating that Chinese sportswear brands can explore the possibility of co-opetition to achieve mutual benefits.

The purpose of this paper is to provide a critical historical analysis of the business (mis)behaviors and influencing factors that discourage enduring cooperation between principals and agents, to introduce strategies that embrace the social values, economic motivation and institutional designs historically adopted to curtail dishonest acts in international business and to inform an improved principal–agent theory that reflects principal–agent reciprocity as shaped by social, political, cultural, economic, strategic and ideological forces

The critical historical research method is used to analyze Chinese compradors and the foreign companies they served in pre-1949 China.

Business practitioners can extend orthodox principal–agent theory by scrutinizing the complex interactions between local agents and foreign companies. Instead of agents pursuing their economic interests exclusively, as posited by principal–agent theory, they also may pursue principal-shared interests (as suggested by stewardship theory) because of social norms and cultural values that can affect business-related choices and the social bonds built between principals and agents.

The behaviors of compradors and foreign companies in pre-1949 China suggest international business practices for shaping social bonds between principals and agents and foreign principals’ creative efforts to enhance shared interests with local agents.

Understanding principal–agent theory’s limitations can help international management scholars and practitioners mitigate transaction partners’ dishonest acts.

A critical historical analysis of intermediary businesspeople’s (mis)behavior in pre-1949 (1840–1949) China can inform the generalizability of principal–agent theory and contemporary business strategies for minimizing agents’ dishonest acts.

This study aims to investigate the effects of sponsorship on organizational identification among employees of companies that sponsor individual athletes from the perspective of internal marketing.

An online survey was conducted in July 2021 targeting employees of Company A. Specifically, employees were invited to participate via email notifications sent through the company's intranet. To clarify the impact of company sponsorships for individual athletes on employee organizational identification, this study focused on the relationship between Company A and an athlete they support. Psychometric scales were used to measure the factors of the hypothetical model, such as sponsor fit and attitudes toward sponsorship. The analysis was conducted using IBM SPSS 28.0 and AMOS 25 Graphics, and the hypotheses were tested using structural equation modeling.

We collected a total of 365 survey responses in two weeks. All the hypotheses in this study were supported, indicating that athlete identification and brand knowledge had a significant positive effect on perceived sponsor fit. In addition, attitudes toward the employer significantly have positive relationships with brand commitment and organizational identification. This study showed that perceived sponsor fit plays an important role in employee perceptions of sponsorship. Athlete endorsement is effective from an internal marketing perspective.

The limitation of this study is the selection of the research subject. Conducting the same survey targeting individual athletes with different characteristics may lead to discoveries about the impact of corporate sponsorship on employee organizational identification.

The practical implication of this study is that business executives should also use sponsorship for individual athletes as a means to unify and motivate their employees. In selecting athletes for sponsorship, it is necessary to select individuals who fit the company image. In this process, listening to employees' opinions may help select the most suitable athlete who matches the company's image.

Many studies conducted on sports sponsorship have focused on the impact on potential customers, from external marketing. Even in studies examining the effects of sports sponsorship on employees, the sponsored subjects are typically teams or events. Therefore, the originality of this study lies in examining the impact of athlete endorsement on the company's employees from the perspective of internal marketing.

In this paper, the authors study the entry and outsourcing strategies of manufacturer while considering the brand spillover effect resulting from outsourcing. The supply chain comprises two manufacturers: one being the entrant with a strong brand, and the other as the incumbent with a weak brand. The entrant decides whether and how to enter the market.

Stackelberg game is applied to study the optimal strategies for the manufacturers. This paper conducts a comparative analysis on four situations, yielding conclusions and managerial insights.

The results show that, for the entrant, there is no need to worry about the brand spillover effect in the outsourcing process, which is very interesting and counterintuitive. To get further, the authors find the reason: The spillover effect causes the entrant’s equilibrium retail price to grow faster than the wholesale price. They also prove that a stronger brand effect empowers the entrant to challenge industry barriers, while the impact of the brand spillover effect is the opposite. For the incumbent who acts as the weak party in this issue, it is demonstrated that the optimal choice is to continue selling when facing the encroachment and outsourcing call from the entrant.

Differing from previous studies, the authors notice the brand spillover effect caused by outsourcing when studying company’s entry strategy. They further divide the brand effect into two parts, one of which does not exhibit a spillover.