The Effect of Online Reviews on Brand Equity Dimensions in Iraqi Restaurants

Document Type : Original Article

Authors

1 Master's researcher in the Department of Business Administration Faculty of Business - Alexandria University The Egyptian Arabic Republic

2 Professor of Marketing Faculty of Business - Alexandria University The Egyptian Arabic Republic

3 Assistant Professor, Department of Business Administration Faculty of Business - Alexandria University The Egyptian Arabic Republic

Abstract

Building and maintaining brands is one of the most important tasks of marketing management today. Therefore, academics and practitioners alike have shown great interest in brand equity, which reflects consumers' response to brands, manifested in their awareness and mental associations with them, as well as their perceived quality and loyalty. Academics have traditionally been interested in the impact of marketing mix elements and product experience on brand equity. However, with the advent of the Internet and social media, the number of consumer reviews of products that are published online has increased significantly, and consumers have become receivers and senders of content about products, and online reviews have become a factor influencing brand equity. This study aims to determine the extent of the impact of online reviews created by consumers about the restaurant sector in Iraq on the dimensions of brand equity, which are awareness, brand associations and perceived quality of the brand as an intermediary variable, and thus influencing purchase intention as a dependent variable, online questionnaire was used on a sample size of 818, and the researchers used structural equation modeling to test the study hypotheses. The results of the study found that there is a positive moral effect of online reviews on awareness, brand associations, and perceived quality of the brand. The study also found that there is no direct effect of online reviews on the consumer’s purchase intention. However, there is a positive indirect significant effect of online reviews on purchase intention when awareness, associations, and perceived quality of the brand are mediated

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