Brand Equity Product Quality and Service Quality as Determinants of Customer Satisfaction

Abstract

This paper explores the causal relationship between brand equity, product quality, and service quality in influencing customer satisfaction, with customer pride serving as an intervening variable. Customer pride, positioned as an intervening variable, mediates this relationship, potentially enhancing the effects of brand equity, product quality, and service quality on customer satisfaction. To analyze, a structural equation modeling approach is applied, based on data collected from 500 respondents, selected according to Lameshow’s sampling provisions, from the population of BNI bank customers in Surabaya, Indonesia. The respondents are purposively sampled, with the specific criterion that they must be active customers who have been saving with the bank for at least one year. This targeted approach ensures that the sample includes individuals with substantial experience and engagement with the bank, allowing for more reliable insights into how customer pride may mediate the impact of brand equity, product quality, and service quality on their overall satisfaction. The research demonstrates a positive relationship between service quality and customer satisfaction, indicating that higher service quality directly contributes to increased satisfaction among customers. Additionally, findings reveal that brand equity, product quality, and service quality each positively influence customer pride, highlighting their role in fostering a sense of pride in customers regarding their choice of brand. Among these factors, product quality emerges as the most influential, having a dominant effect on customer pride. This suggests that when customers perceive a high level of product quality, it not only enhances their satisfaction but also reinforces their pride in associating with the brand, thereby strengthening their loyalty and overall engagement.