Impact of Sensory Branding Elements on Customer Loyalty with the Mediating Impact of Brand Experience and Moderating Impact of Brand Resonance: With Special Reference to Franchised Fast Food Chains Located in Western Province, Sri Lanka

Abstract

In today’s context, many franchised fast food chains are adopting different techniques to stand out from the other competitors. Sensory branding elements play a vital role in creating a loyal relationship with consumers. This relationship is widely examined research scope but still, empirical gaps are claimed due to the lack of previous works regarding the mediating role and moderating role relating to this phenomenon. The purpose of this research is to identify the impact of sensory branding elements on customer loyalty by examining the mediating effect of brand experience and moderating effect of brand resonance with special reference to franchised fast food chains located in Western province. As this study was quantitative, it has used a structured questionnaire survey method to gather primary data based on the convenient sampling method through online platforms. Total, 384 questionnaires were distributed and 200 responses were collected to analyze using the SPSS 26 software version. In order to investigate the hypothetical impacts researchers employed various statistical techniques such as Multiple Regression, Macro Process and Pearson Correlation Coefficient Analysis. The findings of the research revealed that there is a significant positive relationship between sensory branding elements and customer loyalty. Also, it further proved that there is a mediating and moderating impact of brand experience and brand resonance on the relationship between sensory branding elements and customer loyalty. Finally, the researcher recommends several strategies for marketing practitioners of franchised fast food chains to develop customer loyalty through sensory branding elements, brand experience and brand resonance.