The effect of brand alliances across dependent variables and research designs: A meta-analysis

Researchers have observed that a brand ally positively impacts a focal brand. However, it’s unclear what the average size of this effect is and if this effect is consistent across dependent variables and research designs. This uncertainty can lead to misconceptions among scholars and practitioners regarding the findings from brand alliance studies. Through a meta-analysis, this study finds that the average size of the brand alliance effect is 0.244, indicating a significant brand ally influence on a focal brand. Additionally, the analysis reveals that fictional brands yield larger effect sizes regarding attitudes toward the brand alliance, whereas real brands exert a greater impact on attitudes toward the focal brand. Yet, the effect size is influenced by dependent variables and research design elements. These findings suggest that drawing direct equivalences of effect sizes across dependent variables might be misleading; guidelines are provided to help navigate such potential discrepancies.