Brand Equity in Fast-Food Businesses Among Copperbelt University Students

This study identified and investigated the factors that influence brand equity in the fast-food industry among students at Copperbelt University in Zambia. The aspects developed by Aaker (1991) were used to create a clear understanding of the relationships amongst the determinants of brand equity; brand awareness (BW), brand association (BA), perceived value (PV), brand loyalty (BL) and perceived quality (PQ) have been used for testing the hypotheses. Cross-sectional data with a survey approach were used to collect appropriate data for the calculation and analysis of the findings. A sample of 351 students was used and questionnaires were distributed through online forms to acquire valid responses for evaluation and the results were analysed using STATA v17. The reliability test was performed using Cronbach’s alpha test, and each item was found to have a threshold above 0.5. The data analysed showed that of the four determinants of brand equity used, only brand awareness had no significant effect on brand equity (BE) in fast food chains at Copperbelt University. There is a need for fast food managers and business stakeholders of fast-food businesses to focus on and expand on the determinants of brand equity outlined in this dataset.