ارائه مدل هم‌رقابتی با تمرکز بر برندسازی مشترک

Extended Abstract

Introduction: In recent years, organizational, business, and global conditions have become so complex that changes occur rapidly and competition is increasingly expanding (D'aveni, 1995). Usually, in these conditions, competitors, while competing with each other, cooperate with each other in different areas in order to improve their efficiency and performance (Soltani, 2016). These cooperative relationships are often formed between competitors (Bouncken, 2016) because when facing similar environmental and competitive challenges, competitors have the most valuable and relevant resources (Park, 2014). Academics believe that co-competition can create advantages that would be unattainable in its absence (Czakon, 2020). Co-competition, compared to other collaborations, is more appropriate and improves products and services and ensures the survival of companies and organizations (Lascaux, 2020). One of the benefits of using a co-competition strategy for companies is to increase market share, as companies can offer similar products through collaboration with potential partners and at the same time competitors with the help of each other's ideas and efforts, improve their current products, and gain a more favorable position in the market compared to other competitors (Moritz, 2022). Hoffman (2018) states that given the importance and increasing use of competitive collaborations in entering the market, there is a lack of studies, especially on topics related to co-competition drivers, and the need for comprehensive research in this area is essential (Hoffman, 2018). With increasing competition in markets and increasing consumer demand, managers are looking for solutions to enhance customer experience, grow and improve their businesses and therefore turn to co-branding (Besharat, 2014). Co-branding is a marketing strategy in which two or more brands are presented to the consumer simultaneously as a single brand to create a set of brand assets that is greater than the original brand alone (Yu, 2021). Co-branding combines the characteristics of the original brand with the values associated with both brands to create a single and common brand (Smith, 2017). The aim of the present study is to present a conceptual model of co-competition with a focus on co-branding. The main focus of this study is to identify the role of co-competition drivers in the formation of co-competition strategies based on co-branding and to examine its consequences in order to answer the research questions.

Method: A systematic review method was used to achieve the objectives and answer the research questions. First, a search strategy was written. Then, a search was conducted in the Web of Science, Scopus, ScienceDirect, and Magiran databases. Initially, 196 articles were found for review, of which 9 were duplicates. After reviewing the titles and abstracts of the articles, 124 were irrelevant, and finally, after reviewing the remaining texts, 18 articles were also irrelevant to the research topic. Finally, 45 articles related to the literature on co-competition and co-branding remained for study and were studied and coded using MAXQDA 2020 software.

Findings: In this study, 392 points were identified and coded through qualitative content analysis. Considering their relevance to the research topic, 22 concepts were categorized into 7 subcategories, and 3 general categories of drivers, strategies, and consequences were identified.

Results: The results of the study include a final model of co-competition focusing on co-branding, which shows that co-competition drivers lead to the adoption of co-competition strategies based on co-branding between direct and indirect competitors. These strategies are also symbolic or combined, and ultimately lead to consequences for organizations that use these strategies.Keywords: co-opetition, co-branding, collaborative-competitive branding.

Funding: There is no funding support.

Authors' contribution: All authors are equally involved in the preparation and writing of the article. Conflict of Interest: Authors declared no conflict of interest

Acknowledgments: The authors of the article thank and appreciate all the people who have given scientific advice in preparing the article.