A study of brand loyalty in Malaysia's automotive industry

Brand loyalty has become a major issue for the majority of the automobile brands in Malaysia’s automotive industry. To incorporate the business strategy, it is most vital to identify the factors that influence brand loyalty among car users, using the brand equity model. The main purpose of this study was to investigate the relationship between service quality and brand loyalty, the relationship between marketing-mix strategy and brand loyalty, the relationship between country-of-origin and brand loyalty, and finally, the mediating effect of trust on the relationship between service quality, marketing-mix strategy, and country-of-origin, with brand loyalty. This study consisted of three independent variables: service quality, marketing-mix strategy, and country-of-origin; a mediator: brand trust; and a dependent variable: brand loyalty. A total of 10 hypotheses were developed. Regression was used to analyze the mediating effect. The population consisted of Malaysian consumers, and a postal mail survey using judgmental, cluster and simple random sampling yielded 413 respondents in the Klang Valley, Selangor. The results showed 6 hypotheses being supported. The results indicated that marketing-mix strategy and country-oforigin have a significant relationship with brand loyalty; however, service quality does not have a significant relationship with brand loyalty. It was also found that service quality and country-of-origin have a significant relationships with brand trust. Contrarily, marketing-mix strategy does not have a significant relationship with brand trust. Mediating effects were significant where brand trust was found to be partially mediated between the relationship of country-of-origin and brand loyalty. The findings of this study while contributing to the body of knowledge, may also assist policy-makers and marketers in their sustainability effort