Restaurant Location and Price Fairness as Key Determinants of Brand Equity: A Study on Fast Food Restaurant Industry

The main purpose of this study was to examine the direct effects of restaurant location and price fairness on brand equity in Malaysian market. The data were collected from several customers of international fast food restaurants in East Coast Malaysia. Convenience sampling methodology was utilized to obtain the responses from 384 customers during different times of data collection period. The collected data were coded into SPSS and analysed using structural equation modelling through AMOS 18. The findings indicated that restaurant location has significant positive effect on brand equity and its dimensions namely, brand image, brand loyalty, brand preference, and brand leadership. Moreover, it was found that price fairness has significant positive effect on overall brand equity and its dimensions. These results suggest that a restaurant location that is visible and accessible to customers seems to be an important factor in determining business success. Moreover, consumers tend to evaluate a restaurant brand based on price fairness that is matched with the quality of the offering. Therefore, this study urges policy makers in fast food restaurant industry to consider restaurant location and price fairness when designing their branding strategies.