The purpose of this paper is to utilize the big five models of brand personality concept to explore potential co‐branding partners by employing the multi‐attribute utility theory (MAUT) to estimate and rank utilities for possible partners from the big five models.
Design science, an artifact of proof‐of‐concept system is used for deciding co‐branding partners.
The present study attempts to demonstrate the proof‐of‐concept of the proposed MAUT‐based decision model for a company in determining a beneficial and supportive co‐branding partner.
This paper aims to provide clues for industries in terms of providing a MAUT‐based decision‐making approach and a strategic information system. Examples from the telecommunication industry also demonstrate the feasibility of the approach.
The proposed decision‐making method: provides clues for ranking and selection of co‐branding partners; explores the brand personality of the potential partners primitively; utilizes the MAUT approach to estimate utilities of the partners; and furnishes a roadmap for brand alliance research.
