<p>In the beginning of the twenty-first century it became clear what consequences companies’pursuit of economical growth had created on our environment and our social lives. Now theworld is standing in front of a challenge and that is to find a sustainable way to produce,consume and live in order to help our environment and social lives. An example of anorganization that is working towards a sustainable way of living is Fair trade LabelingOrganizations International. They set up international fair trade standards in order to supportthe sustainable development of small producers in poor countries, such as ensuring that theproducers receive prices that cover their costs.Research results indicate that the fair trade label could lower the value of the brand that it isattached to, as well as decrease the original brand’s customer loyalty. While there is also thebelief that fair trade is a positive thing for a brand. Therefore our aim with this dissertation isto look at how the consumer behavior changes when the product is co branded with the fairtrade label. We will therefore look at how co branding with the fair trade label affect differentaspects of consumer behavior. The different aspects that we have used are need recognition,information search, evaluation of alternatives, post purchase behavior and perceived brandpersonality.The study is performed on Dutch consumers by doing a quantitative research. The studyshowed that there are four variables that affect consumer behavior when co branding with fairtrade these are price sensitivity, reason for buying, expected quality and perceived brandpersonality.This study contributes to the lack of research concerning the connection between co brandingwith fair trade and consumer behavior. The conclusions drawn from this study could be usedas guidelines for company managers that are thinking of adding a fair trade label to theproduct, but it could also be used as guidelines for managers that already use fair trade.</p>

In the beginning of the twenty-first century it became clear what consequences companies’pursuit of economical growth had created on our environment and our social lives. Now theworld is standing in front of a challenge and that is to find a sustainable way to produce,consume and live in order to help our environment and social lives. An example of anorganization that is working towards a sustainable way of living is Fair trade LabelingOrganizations International. They set up international fair trade standards in order to supportthe sustainable development of small producers in poor countries, such as ensuring that theproducers receive prices that cover their costs.Research results indicate that the fair trade label could lower the value of the brand that it isattached to, as well as decrease the original brand’s customer loyalty. While there is also thebelief that fair trade is a positive thing for a brand. Therefore our aim with this dissertation isto look at how the consumer behavior changes when the product is co branded with the fairtrade label. We will therefore look at how co branding with the fair trade label affect differentaspects of consumer behavior. The different aspects that we have used are need recognition,information search, evaluation of alternatives, post purchase behavior and perceived brandpersonality.The study is performed on Dutch consumers by doing a quantitative research. The studyshowed that there are four variables that affect consumer behavior when co branding with fairtrade these are price sensitivity, reason for buying, expected quality and perceived brandpersonality.This study contributes to the lack of research concerning the connection between co brandingwith fair trade and consumer behavior. The conclusions drawn from this study could be usedas guidelines for company managers that are thinking of adding a fair trade label to theproduct, but it could also be used as guidelines for managers that already use fair trade.