• Journal of Distribution Science
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• v.17 no.7
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• pp.77-86
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• 2019

Purpose - This paper examines customers' perception on intra-industry and inter-industry alliance, then compares customer purchasing attitude towards alliance product according to whether it is from high-tech or low-tech industry. Research design, data, and methodology - We used qualitative research methodology of in-depth interviews and focus group interviews. Results - Customers expect products from inter-industry alliance to be highly innovative but also to be inferior in technology. In high-tech industries, since technology is more important than differentiation, inter-industry alliance was negatively evaluated whereas intra-industry alliance elicited positive customer purchasing attitude. Conversely, in low-tech industry where novelty outweighs technology, inter-industry alliance earned positive evaluation. However, for intra-industry alliance, customers' evaluation varied depending on whether both partners share similar prestige and price range. When partners were not similar to each other, customers' perception were positive for less prestigious and pricey brand, but in the reverse case, perception were negative. Conclusions - This research focused on customers' perception and attitude by adopting qualitative methodology while other alliance studies are mostly based on quantitative research. This study provides managers with partner selecting guidelines considering the type of industry, and whether the goal is to enhance novelty or technology.