THE IMPACT OF INNOVATION ON BRAND LOYALTY THROUGH CUSTOMER SATISFACTION OF HOTEL BUSINESS IN NAKHON PHANOM PROVINCE.

Abstract

The objectives of this research were to; 1) to study the innovation, the customer satisfaction, and brand loyalty of hotel business in Nakhon Phanom province 2) to compare the different of customer opinion toward types of innovation, customer satisfaction, and brand loyalty when classified by personal factors 3) to study the influence of innovation on brand loyalty through customer satisfaction.
This research is a survey research. The population used in this research is tourists who travel and stay in hotels in Nakhon Phanom Province, which does not know the exact number. Use the method to set the sample size by the formula of Cochran [1], it was 400 samples. Use proportional sampling and simple random sampling methods. Tools used to collect data is a questionnaire; Section 1: Questionnaire about innovation consists of 2 aspects, which are 1) product innovation 2) process innovation is a questionnaire developed by the researcher based on the conceptual framework of OECD [2], Edison, Ali and Torkar [3] which is a 5 levels rating scale, Section 2: The customer satisfaction questionnaire consists of 2 aspects which are 1) product quality 2) service quality is a questionnaire developed by the researcher according to Nuridin [4] conceptual framework, Section 3: Questionnaire about brand loyalty is a questionnaire developed by the researcher based on the conceptual framework of Gomez, Arranz & Cillan [5], which consists of 5 rating scales also. Reliability testing was used the Cronbach’s Alpha Coefficient method; .801 of innovation, .924 of customer service, and .884 of brand loyalty. The analysis of general information about respondents, business data, levels of innovation, customer satisfaction, brand loyalty were analyzed by descriptive statistics; frequency, percentage, mean, and standard deviation. Hypothesis testing was used t-test, F-test (One Way ANOVA), Pearson correlation coefficient, simple regression, and multiple regressions.
The research results found that; the level of innovation, customer satisfaction, and brand loyalty was high by mean at 4.12, 4.17, and 4.34 respectively. The hypothesis testing found that; occupation was the only personal factor that could effect on the different of opinion toward innovation and brand loyalty. The Model 1: Innovation can predict the customer satisfaction by 52.8 percent (R2 = .528), and the standardized coefficients (β) was .762. The Model 2: Customer satisfaction can predict the brand loyalty by 68.9 percent (R2 = .689), and the standardized coefficients (β) was .830. The Model 3: Innovation and customer satisfaction can predict the brand loyalty by 70.1 percent (R2 = .701), and the standardized coefficients (β) was .161, and .713 respectively. The empirical evidence from the research results reveals that; the innovation had a positive impact on brand loyalty through customer satisfaction.