Zeitschrift für Tourismusforschung und Gastgewerbe

Brand Association Creation in Alliance between Educational Institutions and Hotels in Hong Kong

Oy-Lar Kiki Chan and Soo-May Cheng

Brand Association Creation in Alliance between Educational Institutions and Hotels in Hong Kong

This study seeks to examine a deeper understanding of how customers(students) perceive the brand associations that their higher education institutions form with hotels in Hong Kong. Data were collected through open-ended questions in a selfadministered questionnaire. Content analysis was adopted to analyse the data by coding the transcripts of respondents’ replies and formulating distinct themes in their replies. This study indicates benefits for partner brands and customers when both partner brands are perceived to be of low quality and also reports disadvantages when both partner brands are perceived to be of high quality.