Marketing and Branding Research

Abstract

The main aim of this study was to investigate the factors affecting on customer loyalty of Mehr chain hotels in Yazd. Independent variables of this study included cultural brand asset, individual’s similarity to brand, lifestyle congruency, intermediate variables of study included brand awareness, perceived quality, brand association, and customer satisfaction, and the dependent variable of study included brand loyalty. The population of this study included Iranian and non-Iranian quests of Mehr chain hotels of Yazd. Simple and stratified random sampling methods were used. Four hundred and thirty-five questionnaires (325 Persian questionnaires, and 110 English questionnaires) were distributed and gathered.  Data were analyzed using the SPSS 18 Software.  The relationships between variables and factors were confirmed through confirmatory factor analysis and structural equation modeling techniques using LISREL8.72 software. The results confirmed the impact of cultural brand assets on perceived quality, brand awareness, and brand association. Additionally, it was found that there was significant correlation between brand awareness, perceived quality, and brand association. Perceived quality, brand association, and customer satisfaction also have a positive impact on brand loyalty. Lifestyle congruency and individual’s similarity to brand have impact on customer satisfaction. In this research after investigating the factors affecting on customer loyalty of Mehr chain hotels in Yazd, university sector entered in such research areas until both marketers as well as researchers to use the findings for increasing consumer loyalty.