Effect of Dimensions of Service Quality on the Brand Equity in the Fast Food Industry

Due to the increasing competition in the industry and service sectors, creating the powerful brands has great importance in these industries. One of the main factors that help to create a powerful brand is investment and improving the quality of services. Nowadays, the competition for improving the quality of services is raised as a key strategic issue for organizations that operate in the services sector. The aim of this research is to investigate how the dimensions of service quality affect the brand equity in the fast food industry. The customers of fast food industry (Restaurant Raphael) in Boushehr constitute the statistical population of this research. Given that the statistical population is unlimited, through sampling 390 questionnaires were distributed, collected and analyzed. For analyzing the data, the structural equations modelling was used by help of the software smart PLS. The results show that the entire dimensions of service quality of model SERVQUAL (tangible factors of services, reliability, responsiveness, assurance and empathy) have a positive and significant impact on the brand equity. It also became clear that among the five dimensions of quality of services, the tangible factors of services have the most impact on the brand equity in the fast food industry. So implementing the programs to enhance the quality of services will have to a very large extent a positive effect on increasing the brand equity in the fast food industry.