Team:

Mahad Rizwan (89), Fakhar Abbas (92), Farooq Azam (90)

Literature Review:
Article No: 1
Introduction:
The brand image enables the customers to understand their needs wants and desires which can be
satisfied through specific or brands, it also differentiates brand from its competitors. Satisfaction is
the fulfilment of needs which leads to experience, it is the outcome of a service quality. The brand
experience which leads to build the brand loyalty were the customer satisfaction is shown. Customer
Satisfaction is an expectation, before purchasing and an insight and intelligence of performance,
after purchasing. Inconsistent probability pattern indicates that consumers, once are satisfied that
the performance of goods is higher and better than their expectation are equivalent, they neither
feel satisfied nor dissatisfied. Experience and expectations are the two factors which will affect the
customer satisfaction. Customer experience is today’s business benchmark. Customer experience be
differentiating factor in highly competitive market. Customer experience creates an important
competitive advantage more than expectation which helps the company to build the leadership
status in the market. Whereas other advantage is for gaining competitive advantage are brands
which also leads to differentiate. The mostly used definition for brand is a name, term, sign, symbol,
or any other feature that identifies on seller’s goods and service as distinct from those of other
sellers. But if we see brand is much higher than that. Brands have the remarkable status on even day
to day usage of basic commodities to luxury goods. Brand is a complex concept and each brand has
its own distinguished characteristics which separates the brand from others. It can be argued that in
today’s business almost everything from distribution channels to patents copied from competitors,
but the brand is the only thing that cannot be duplicated

RESEARCH METHODOLOGY
A. Data Analysis and Validity Tests
This study has been designed as an exploratory study mainly based on findings. But considerable
quantity of secondary data was also used in the methods for collection of data, analysis of data etc
were shown one by one. The measures were standardized to make it suitable for the purpose of the
study. Numbers of factors were identified through exploratory factor analysis for all the variables.
Structural Equation Modelling was used in the current study through AMOS 16. The results of SEM
indicate that there is a strong relationship between customer satisfaction and brand image. The
result of SEM also indicates that there is a strong relationship between Brand Image and Loyalty
intention and the relationship between Customer satisfaction and Loyalty intention was found little
weak. While the indirect relationship between customer satisfaction and loyalty intention via brand
image was found to be very strong.
B. Measures and Instrument Design
Target Market: Target market profile is simply a specific group of customers most likely to respond
positively to your promotions, products, and services. The target market analysis would be based on
specific factors like location, age, income, and so on. Target market analysis gives you direction for
marketing and ensuring consistency and helps in building strong relationships with customers.
Designing a target market will helps to establish relevancy.
Sample size: The sample size is limited to 120 respondents. The samples were taken based on
convenient sampling method. The survey is undergone for 120 respondents through online by
convenience sampling.
Sample unit: The individual customers are the sample units. The primary data has been collected
through questionnaire method.
For this purpose, structural questionnaire was prepared based on objectives set and administered
among respondents. Feedback has been collected and later analysed. This study required some
amount of secondary data. This has been collected from previous similar works, different company
brochure, business magazines, and book from different company website etc.
Statistical tools for analysis: The data collected from the respondents were analysed using various
statistical techniques, such as factor analysis, percentage, averages etc. for the better presentation
and quality of data, and also various diagrams are applied for clarity.

CONCLUSION
1. Discussion
The present study helps to understand the factors affecting customer satisfaction while choosing a
brand. It also makes us understand the effect of impact of brand experience and brand loyalty in
satisfying the customer. The result shows that customer satisfaction is the bi-product of the
experience of the customers. The factors that create a different experience in the buying behaviour
of customers are awesome, love, passionate, comfortable, and recommending to others. Customer
satisfaction will lead to brand loyalty. Brand loyalty of customers will lead to frequent visits,
particular brand selection, worth able products, honesty and sincerity towards products and
excitement. The finding suggests that frequent visits, particular brand selection, worth able
products, honesty and sincerity towards products and excitement of customers are the after effects
of customer satisfaction and the different positive experiences of the customers like awesome, love,
passionate, comfortable, and recommend others will leads to customer satisfaction. So, it is
important to track the factors that leads to customer satisfaction in order to make your customer
more loyal and eventually creating a brand impact in the society. The above study shows that brand
loyalty is an independent variable whereas brand experience is a dependent variable of customer
satisfaction.
2. Managerial Implication
It can be concluded that customer satisfaction and brand experience play an important role in
making brand loyalty. The impact of customer satisfaction is more than the brand image but at the
same time both were highly significant factors. Brand loyalty can be generated with the help of
customer satisfaction and offering high brand value. Customer satisfaction and brand value is
considered as a marketing technique for many companies. The study leads to the idea that the
positive experience of the customers makes them satisfied and it would lead to brand loyalty and
resulting into high brand value. Establishing brand image is directly associated with sales of the
company which makes the customers to buy the product again and again. Brand image, customer
satisfaction and brand loyalty are the key elements that freeze the customer’s buying intension on a
particular product.

Article: 2
Introduction:
In a competitive business environment, customer satisfaction and brand loyalty is emerging as an
issue for which the business firms are very sensitive of. As a result, the process of building a reputed
brand image and attracting new customers remains an important task for the marketing managers in
any organization. Schult, (2005) further point out those companies should also direct their attention
on customer retention with profitable long-term relationships. However, the basis of customer
retention is higher level of their satisfaction towards the products and services which they received
as well as higher value by customers. This is because, happy customers are more likely to show more
loyalty towards the company like willingness to provide positive words of mouth, repurchase the
products as well as willingness to pay more for the products because of trust. A reputable brand
with higher customer loyalty possesses a higher market share and capacity to imply higher cost for
their products or services (Mohammadian & Ronaghi, 2010).
Supermarkets in Kenya have generally been enjoying tremendous growth in recent years. In the
same vein, the environment has continually changed bringing more and more challenges to the
players. Various changes have been witnessed in the legal environment, competitive field, consumer
needs and also in the area of technology. To improve competitiveness, major supermarkets are
growing rapidly, adopting aggressive strategies to attract customers due to emergence of new
supermarket formats and competition between supermarkets. A firm‘s brand image has a significant
impact on customer satisfaction especially across major supermarket industries as a result store
infrastructure, convenience, store service and sales activities acts as the four components of store
image, and they all impact customer satisfaction directly. Indeed in a competitive Kenyan market,
increased customer satisfaction is seen as a key differentiator and increasingly has become a key
element of business strategy of the major supermarkets thus the need for a good brand image which
significantly improves service quality.

Research Methodology:
Research Design
The research design was a descriptive survey of the large supermarkets operating in
Nairobi. The research design allowed for contact with otherwise inaccessible participants. It has
been observed that a survey is feasible when the population is small and variable. When all items of
the population are covered, no element of chance is left and highest accuracy is obtained. Cooper
and Emory (1985) contend that surveys are more efficient and economical than observations.

Population of the Study

The population of the study was customers visiting the large supermarkets operating in Nairobi
(Appendix I). According to the City Council of Nairobi licensing data for 2014, large supermarket is
one defined to occupy between 1,000 to 5,000 square feet.
Based on the same information, there are 15 large supermarkets as at 31.12.2014.
Since all the supermarkets will be covered by the study, a census was carried out.
Sampling
Sampling is the act, process, or technique of selecting a suitable sample, or a representative part of a
population for the purpose of determining parameters or characteristics of the whole population
(Salant and Dillman, 2010). The study followed convenience sampling technique which is a non-
probability sampling method because of nature of current study and other constraints of the
researcher such as limited time frame and limited resources. The participants were selected on the
basis of their availability and their interest. In every store, the respondents were picked from the exit
corner of the store according to their availability and interest. A sample of 150 customers was
chosen randomly from the fifteen large supermarkets in Nairobi.
Data Collection
The study used primary data that was collected through self-administered questionnaires.
Structured questionnaire consisting of both open ended and closed ended questions designed to
elicit specific responses for qualitative and quantitative analysis respectively will be used. This tool
was used because it is a strong method to gather the attitudes and opinions of the respondents in an
economic way.
The questionnaire was divided into three sections. Section one was designed to obtain general
information on person and organization profile, section two consisted of questions regarding the
factors influencing brand loyalty in the supermarket customers, while section three consisted of
questions on the role of brand performance in the customer satisfaction and loyalty. The
questionnaire was administered through ―drop and pick later‖ method. The respondents of the
study were expected to give an insight into how brand loyalty affects the level of customer
satisfaction.
Conclusions
In modern competition environment, as consequences of the efforts made to survive and to create
an image on consumers' minds, brand image is established successfully and is increased as a result of
customer satisfaction. Now, the retail businesses understand the significance of how they are
perceived by their target audiences. Like in any other sector, facilitating competitive edge,
establishing corporate image, creating customer satisfaction and increasing brand loyalty is essential
for long term profitability. Even though the works that are realized for increasing corporate image
and customer satisfaction are initially deemed as expenditure, owing to the loyal customers, there
will be a decrease in the advertisement costs of the supermarket.
Also, increase in loyal customers will enable more flexibility in the price adjustments of the
supermarkets products. Even more, new customers will be attained by word of mouth and
customers' suggestions. All these endeavors are strategies that are hard to imitate by the
competition. This will enable corporation to acquire competitive advantages, compared to their
competitors and to improve their successes.
From the findings, the study concluded that customer satisfaction is important in maintaining
customers, particularly those in service industry. For customer satisfaction, supermarkets should
understand customer-specific needs, provide good quality products, and have the capacity to
address customer complaints or problems in a friendly manner. Perceived good product
performance is a key driver of brand image and also significantly influences customer satisfaction.
Knowing how to create customer satisfaction will also provide benefit for consumers. Based on
marketing conception, knowing the needs and requirements of the consumers and creating benefits
to respond them is the basis for being customer oriented. Indeed, being customer oriented is also
one of the most effective ways to create difference among competitors.

Article No: 3
Introduction:

McDonald’s is one of the biggest fast food restaurants in the world. Its position as a fast food
restaurant is very strong as there are a lot of McDonald’s outlets spread all over the world. In
Indonesia, Mc-Donald’s has been able to win the competition from its rival, Burger King and made
Burger King Close its restaurants (Tangkudung, 2002).
The success of McDonald’s is also driven by its strategy to maintain its brand image. According to
Sari (2005), one strategy to use is by utilizing its opera-tions, managing policies as well as human
resources to support its long term goals. In addition to this, Jacob & Nicholas (2009) also stated that
competitive strategy includes cost or price, quality, delivery speed, delivery reliability, copying with
changing demand, flexibility and new product introduction speed and other product supports. There
are a lot of ways to make customer satisfied and become loyal. One way is by building positive brand
image (Randal, 2001). Creating strong and positive brand can make customers feel and think that the
product or service offered is better than its competitors. So restaurant owners always try to create
positive brand image in their customers’ mind.
Sondoh et al. (2007) has studied about the effect of brand image on overall satisfaction and loyalty
intention in the context of color cosmetic by distributing questionnaires to 97 female respondents in
Malaysia. They used customer satisfaction as a mediating variable. It is found that positive brand
image could influence customer loyalty so that they would repurchase more product or service and
recommend others to buy as much as 41.8%. This study also shows that there was positive
relationship between brand image and customer loyalty as much as 35.8%. In addition, customer
satisfaction could also lead to customer loyalty as much as 21.1%.
RESEARCH METHODOLOGY
Type of Research, Population, and Sampling Design
This research is a causal quantitative to draw conclusions by using hypotheses testing. This research
will explore among brand image impact towards customers loyalty with customer satisfaction as a
mediator or mediating variable. The population in this research is all customers who know and
consume the product and service of McDonald’s aged 17 years to 53 years old considering their
behavior and state of mind. A non-probability sampling is used due to infinite population.
Type and Source of data
The primary data in this research are data collected from questionnaires. The secondary data are
taken from literature, journal, magazine, articles, and internet (Azwar, 2005).
Data Collecting Procedures and Method
1. Library Research
The collection of data is derived from a list of researches in making the foundation of an existing
theory.
2. Field Research
A preliminary survey was conducted on October 11, 2011 by providing open-ended questions to 36
respondents deployed through the Blackberry Messenger (BBM). We used a structured
questionnaires method, with a closed question type (structured) by using a Likert scale. Although the
minimum number of samples should be 96, the writers distributed 110 questionnaires on October
27−31, 2011 on Thursday, Friday, Saturday, Sunday, and Monday. Only 100 questionnaires are valid.
Operational Definition of Variables
There are three kinds of operational variables used in this model, which are independent variables, a
dependent variable, and a mediating variable. The independent variables are favourable of brand
associations, strength of brand association, and uniqueness of brand association. While the
dependent variable is customer loyalty, and customer satisfaction is as a mediating variable.
Data Analysis Technique
1. Validity and Reliability Testing
Statistical Packet for Social Science (SPSS) program is used to measure the questionnaires’ validity
and reliability. Validity is to test whether the measurement suitable with what to measure. Ac-
cording to Hatane (2006), a measurement is said to be valid when the value of r > 0.30. Whereas,
reliability test is the extent to which the results of testing is reliable. It is said to be reliable when the
value of Cronbach Alpha is ≥ 0.6 (Sar-wono & Martodiredjo, 2008).
2. Descriptive Data Analysis
It is used to describe data characteristics in both texts and diagrams. The descriptive statistics can
also be done to find the strength of the relation-ships among variables.
3. Top Two Boxes and Bottom Two Boxes Analysis
The analyses of Top Two Boxes and Bottom Two Boxes are methods that combine the percentage of
respondents in a Likert scale. It is used to deter-mine the ratio between the number of bottom
option (score 1 and 2) – the scale of strongly dis-agree and disagree with the top option (score of 4
and 5) – the scale of agree and strongly agree.
4. Partial Least Square (PLS)
According to Hatane (2011), PLS is a suitable approach to predict something, especially for a
condition in which an indicator is formative or reflective. PLS can be applied on all data scales and
doesn’t need a lot of assumptions. In addition, the needed samples don’t have to be big. The data
analysis can be done using software Smart Partial Least Square (PLS).
Conclusion:
1. McDonald’s should pay more attention to customers’ perceived value as they would like to get
affordable price, fast service for the product they buy. To attract more customers, McDonald’s can
promote its new product by offering some gifts.
2. As the strength of brand association influence more on customer satisfaction, it is recommended
for McDonald’s to offer more product packages at affordable and economical prices.
3. From the research, the majority of customers are young people aged 17−25 years. It is advisable
to add more product variations, like salads and healthy sandwich to attract older people who
become aware of consuming healthy food.
4. For further research, it is recommended to be more critical in selecting factors that might affect
customer’s satisfaction and loyalty as the research could only contribute 58.4%. Different sampling
techniques might be used to emphasize its accuracy and validity.

Article No: 4
Introduction:
According to American Marketing Association (AMA), a brand is a “name, term, sign, symbol, or
design, or a combination of them, intended to identify the goods and services of one seller or group
of sellers and to differentiate them from those competition” (Keller, 2003:3). A brand is a promise
what benefits the company brings to the customers so that the relationship between customers and
the company or its business will be strong (Chiara Ville & Schenck, 2007). In light of this, Hague
(2001) expressed brand in terms of its merits to both companies and customers. The advantages of
strong brand image are company gain best prices, the company will have demanded products,
enhance good flow of information between the company and customers, customers will be satisfied,
and there is a chance of opening new business/product. And Hedging, Knudtzen & Bjerre (2009) also
reported that brand image is the perception of consumers.
Besides, brand image not only an essential to create long-term competitive advantage for the
company (Kotler, 1997), but also it is an important factor that influences customer satisfaction and
customer loyalty when customers are framing their emotions about service quality (Ulusua, 2011).
This shows that brand image has a positive relationship with service quality, customer satisfaction
and customer loyalty.
RESEARCH METHODOLOGY
Research Approach
Research approach is the way one collects and analyzes data and it is the methods developed for
acquiring trustworthy knowledge via reliable and valid procedures.
There are three types of research approach. These are exploratory research, descriptive research
and causal research. (Churchill & Iacobucci, 2005). Exploratory research is an important part of any
marketing or business strategy. Its focus is on the discovery of ideas and insights as opposed to
collecting statistically accurate data. That is why exploratory research is best suited as the beginning
of your total research plan. Descriptive research takes up the bulk of online surveying and is
considered conclusive in nature due to its quantitative nature. Unlike exploratory research,
descriptive research is preplanned and structured in design so the information collected can be
statistically inferred on a population. The main idea behind using this type of research is to better
define an opinion, attitude, or behavior held by a group of people on a given subject. Like descriptive
research, causal research is quantitative in nature as well as preplanned and structured in design.
For this reason, it is also considered conclusive research. Causal research differs in its attempt to
explain the cause and effect relationship between variables. This is opposed to the observational
style of descriptive research, because it attempts to decipher whether a relationship is causal
through experimentation (Fluid Surveys Team, 2014)
Among the three types of research approach, this research work uses exploratory which is useful for
formulate problems more precisely, develop hypothesis, establish priorities for research, eliminate
impractical ideas and clarify concepts.
Research Design
According to Creswell (2014:22) “Research designs are plans and the procedures for research that
span the decisions from broad assumptions to detailed methods of data collection and analysis”.
The three types of research design are qualitative research, quantitative research and mixed
methods research. “Qualitative research is a means for exploring and understanding the meaning
individuals or groups ascribe to a social or human problem. Quantitative research is a means for
testing objective theories by examining the relationship among variables. Mixed methods research is
an approach to inquiry that combines or associates both qualitative and quantitative forms”
(Creswell, 2014:23). It is known that the selection of a research design is based on the nature of the
research problem or issues being addressed, the researchers’ personal experiences, and the
audiences for the study. As this study investigate the effect of brand image on customer satisfaction
and loyalty, the researcher will use quantitative research design.
According to Creswell (2003), the quantitative research is critical to show the cause and effect
relationship between dependent and independent variables. In support of this concept, Christensen
et al. (1985) noted that to illustrate the relationship between the variables, quantitative survey
approach is suitable.
Data Type and Source
The type of the data that the researcher used were primary and secondary data. The primarily data
were gathered by using structured questionnaire that were answered by respondents who are the
customers of Addis Abeba districts and branches. The secondary type of data which was used to
examine were: issues related to Ethiopian insurance industry and reviewing books, articles and
journals related and online available information
Population and Sampling
Population Characteristics
As this research is meant to target Ethiopian Insurance Corporation Addis Abeba customers in all
districts and branches, the population for the study were customers who have at least both buy one
product and one-year experience with EIC. The population of the study has two broad categories
under government and private sectors.
Sample Size
From the total population of 28,286 at various branches and districts in Addis Abeba, sample size of
398 customers was taken to this study.
Conclusion
The study tried to examine the effect of brand image on customer satisfaction an loyalty. The reason
why the researcher wanted to conduct this study was due to the declining of market share of the
corporation. Three research questions were also raised to be answered with this study by setting the
general objective and specific objectives. The specific objectives were to examine the relationship
between brand image and customer satisfaction, to discuss the relation between brand image and
customer loyalty and to check the mediating effect of customer satisfaction on the relationship
brand image- customer loyalty. Besides, conceptual framework and hypothesis were also derived
from theoretical and empirical reviews of literature.
Moreover, the researcher prepared questionnaire for the sample of 398 respondents, but the
research analysis and interpretation of the study was conducted using 363 completed questionnaires
that were filled by sample population. The sample population characteristics of the study was
government and private customers which were selected non probability sampling through
convenience sampling method. The researcher also used descriptive, correlation and regression
analysis methods to answer research questions and to accept or reject the hypothesis.
The descriptive analysis results showed that the respondents were neutral for almost all dimensions
of the variables and the finding of the study demonstrated that there is positive relationship among
the measures used and support the assumption that brand image dimensions
58 can enhance customer satisfaction and loyalty. All the three benefits of brand image (i.e.
Functional, Experiential, and Symbolic) are positively perceived by most respondents.
In regard to the Pearson correlation analysis, all variables do have strong and positive correlation
between each other. This means the correlation independent variables against each other and
independent variables against dependent variables were strong and positive. Finally, the regression
analysis shows that brand image is significantly influence on customer satisfaction and loyalty, and
customer satisfaction has mediating effect on relationship brand image-customer loyalty. The model
was also accepted since multiple regression showed that there is no heteroscedasticity problem.