Spillover of Negative Information on Brand Alliances

This research examines the conditions in which the effect of 1 partner's negative behavior in a marketing alliance is likely to spill over to the other. Alliances with both a supplier and a spokesperson were considered. Furthermore, we determined the impact of 2 types of negative attributes: incompetence and immorality. Negative spillover from the partner brand to the host brand occurred only when the host brand was viewed as equally culpable for the offense (i.e., the host was linked directly to the negative act). In addition, moral failures were more detrimental than competence failures in a spokesperson alliance, whereas the reverse was true in a supplier alliance.