Experiential quality perception, customer satisfaction and brand loyalty in restaurant customers

In this research, it is aimed to reveal the effect of experiential quality and the mediating role of customer satisfaction in the brand loyalty decisions of restaurant customers. Within the scope of this purpose, survey technique, which is one of the quantitative data collection techniques, was used in the research. The data were collected from the customers of first class restaurants with tourism business certificate in Bursa between August and December 2022 and 424 valid questionnaires were obtained. The data obtained as a result of the application were analysed through statistical program. Structural equation modelling was used to determine the cause and effect relationships between the variables in the research model. According to the findings obtained as a result of the analyses, it was determined that experiential quality is effective on customer satisfaction and brand loyalty decisions. It has been concluded that interaction quality, physical environment quality and enjoyment quality, which are the sub-dimensions of experiential quality, positively affect customer satisfaction and only enjoyment quality affects brand loyalty. On the other hand, it was also found that customer satisfaction positively affects brand loyalty decisions. In addition, it was also found that customer satisfaction has a full mediating effect in the relationship between experiential quality perceptions and brand loyalty decisions. Keywords: Experiential Quality, Customer Satisfaction, Brand Loyalty