Customer Loyalty Drivers in the Fast-Food Industry: Evidence from Malaysia and India
Abstract
The fast-food sector is highly competitive, making it essential to understand the key determinants of customer loyalty for sustaining long-term business performance and customer retention. Therefore, this study investigates the factors influencing customer loyalty toward KFC by examining the relationship between convenience, price affordability, food quality, service quality, and physical environment with customer loyalty. A quantitative research design was employed, and data were collected by distributing questionnaires to 150 customers of KFC restaurants in Malaysia and India. The collected data were analyzed using SPSS Statistics. The results show that physical environment (b = 0.342, p < 0.001), price affordability (b = 0.277, p < 0.001), and service quality (b = 0.173, p < 0.05) have significant positive effects on customer loyalty, while convenience (b = -0.029, p > 0.05) and food quality (b = 0.139, p > 0.05) are not significant predictors. These findings suggest that physical environment is the strongest determinant of customer loyalty, followed by price affordability and service quality. The study provides useful insights for KFC to improve its marketing strategies and service performance in order to strengthen customer loyalty and maintain competitiveness in the fast-food industry.
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.32535/ijabim.v11i2.4706
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