The relationship between brand equity and firms' performance in luxury hotels and chain restaurants

There is a growing emphasis on building and managing brand equity as the primary drivers of a hospitality firm's success. Success in brand management results from understanding brand equity correctly and managing them to produce solid financial performance. This study examines the underlying dimensions of brand equity and how they affect firms' performance in the hospitality industry-in particular, luxury hotels and chain restaurants. The results of this empirical study indicate that brand loyalty, perceived quality, and brand image are important components of customer-based brand equity. A positive relationship was found to exist between the components of customer-based brand equity and the firms' performance in luxury hotels and chain restaurants. A somewhat different scenario was delineated from the relationship between the components of customer-based brand equity and firms' performance in luxury hotels and chain restaurants. (c) 2004 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.