European Journal of Marketing

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to analyze the consequences that brand alliances have on a new and unknown online brand in terms of attitude to its web site, brand trust, brand equity and consumer's willingness to engage in online transactions.

Design/methodology/approach – A sample of 367 subjects participated in an online experiment of buying a travel package from an unknown travel agency which is allied with other known and well-reputed brands. The information provided by the participants in different online designs of brand alliances was used to test the theoretical model proposed in the paper. This model was tested and compared with other alternative models using conventional maximum likelihood estimation techniques.

Findings – The results show that attitude toward brand alliance represents a strategic marketing opportunity to help an unknown online brand to leverage a favourable first impression from consumers in terms of brand trust and attitude toward the brand's web site. Furthermore, online brand trust does not exert a fully-mediated role between the brand alliance's evaluation and subsequent consumers' reactions to the online brand.

Research limitations/implications – The limitations of the study are those typically applied to the experimental methodology. Specifically, a single product category was used which limits the generalizability of the results. No actual behaviour was measured but just intentions and perceptions.

Practical implications – Partnering with well-known and reputed brands improves the equity of the new online brand which, in turn, enhance consumers' disposition to engage in online transactions with the online brand.

Originality/value – Despite the popularity of brands as a symbol that can build trust and enhance the perception of value and quality, to date, the authors have not found research about the use of well-known and reputed brand names as a mechanism of helping new and unknown online brands to persuade consumers to engage in online transactions. The results of this paper add to the growing literature on brand alliance which has been generally focused on an off-line context.