Ussell, 1991) adds that customer-based brand equity has been defined as the differential effect of brand knowledge on consumer response to brand marketing. Prasad & Dev (2000) stated that building brand equity is considered one of the key drivers of business success. High levels of brand equity are known to lead to greater consumer preferences and purchase intentions (Cobb-Walgren et al., 1995), as well as high returns (Aaker & Jacobson., 1994). Furthermore (Ahmad & Hashim, 2010), they added that building and properly managing brand value has become essential for any business organization and hospitality organizations are no exception. Bailey & Ball (2006) suggested that how well and how well hotel owners relate to hotel brand value also affects hotel performance, and strong brand equity significantly increases the profitability of the hotel industry. If there is a lack of brand value in the hotel industry, this can disturb the outflow of customers from the hotel. Prasad & Dev (2000), argued that when there is a positive customer perception regarding the hotel service, it will automatically lead the hotel towards strong brand equity. Nepal is a developing country where number of tourists visit every year and in almost every season there is a flow of tourists in hotels. The tourism industry has played an important role in generating revenue in Nepal. This sector includes various infrastructure and facilities geared towards tourists visiting the country. The hotel sector is an integral part of the tourism industry in Nepal. Today there are numerous international hotel chains and local hotels are evolving. Most of the star hotels are located in the capital of the country. There are thousands of tourists from all over the world who come to Nepal for various reasons and activities. Tourists travel to various parts of the country for various activities, but most of them spend a lot of time in Kathmandu. Kathmandu star hotels are the prime and prime focus for accommodation for foreigners visiting Nepal. Hotels in Nepal are generally classified into 5 categories (five stars, four stars, three stars, two stars and one star) by (Ministry of Tourism and Civil Aviation, Government of Nepal, 2017), based on their general characteristics and the services they offer. offer. Star Hotels in Nepal has introduced a branded service to the hotel industry in Nepal. Using this brand, star hotels in Nepal offer world class standard service, experience and consistency in the service provided to the visitors so that the visitors are well aware of their brand and are loyal to their service. Brand awareness is improved in various ways, such as advertising, direct emails, word of mouth, and promotional activities (Grover & Srinivasan, 1993). It is very important that star hotels in Nepal focus on brand awareness. Hotels in Nepal are concerned in this case because the more customers know about the hotel, the greater the chance that visitors will recognize, remember and visit the hotel again in their future visit. Nepal star hotels need to expose themselves more to customers to improve brand awareness to create and increase brand loyal consumers who will purchase their product and visit the hotel again (Lewis, Chambers, & Chacko, 1995). Customer loyalty towards hotels in Nepal is very important for hotels because it helps to increase profitability, will increase referrals, helps to reduce marketing costs such as advertising and promotion. Loyal customers are believed to be a strengthfor an organization and this has a positive impact on the success of the organization. Likewise, star hotels should also focus on building and sustaining a positive brand image. It is very important that each star-rated hotel stands out from other competing hotels on the market. Star hotels in Nepal should always be updated and should be innovated, which leads to differentiation and allows their particular brand to stay updated and discover the changes in customers' taste. Starred hotels should also focus on relationship marketing which helps hotels strengthen the relationship with existing customers. This leads hotels to develop high value over time. In the highly competitive hospitality and service industry, the key to increasing and maintaining market share is not only to acquire customers, but it is also important to retain them and make them revisit the hotel again and again. It is very important that every star hotel develops and follows a brand equity model which consists of brand image, brand loyalty, brand association, perceived quality because the combination of these factors will allow the company to achieve a higher brand value. Star rated hotels in Nepal should build the right kind of experience around their hotel brand so that customers have specific and positive thoughts, feelings, opinions and perceptions about the hotel brand. When there is strong brand equity in the rated hotels, customers will return, recommend the hotel to their friends, families and others, customers will be loyal and will be less likely to switch to other hotels during their next visit and stay. Therefore, this study aims to find out the customer-based brand value of star hotels in Nepal and to find out the impacts of brand awareness, brand loyalty, brand image and perceived quality and to analyze the factors that determine the customer-based brand value of star hotels. hotels in Nepal. There are always some types of problems and challenges faced by every industry. Hotels managed in Nepal are also facing several branding issues. There are different types of guests and visitors who prefer different types of hotels and services. The hotel industry includes all forms of activities related to the provision of accommodation, food and beverages and various types of other services that attract and develop tourism in any country. In the hospitality industry, today all the hotels are very concerned about succeeding in the competitive world. Tourism and hospitality is an important sector that has helped generate more revenue and national income. Nepal's hospitality is emerging because there are thousands of tourists visiting Nepal for various tourism activities such as ecotourism, mountain tourism, wildlife tourism, rural tourism, religious and pilgrimage tourism, e-tourism etc. Tourism has played a vital role in the development of the hotel sector and the economy of the country as a whole. This research was conducted to find out the level of awareness among hotel customers, the level of loyalty and attachment of customers towards a particular hotel, the level of attitude of customers and their vision towards the hotel i.e. the image and brand judgment, i.e. finding the level of perceived quality. In today's context the hotel sector is becoming and is an increasingly growing sector in Nepal in terms of international hotel chains entering the market. Definitely, the hotel industry develops rapidly in any region and has become a global industry. There are manypeople who depend on hotels when travelling, doing business, visiting abroad to meet their friends or family and so on. Having a brand is not enough in the hotel industry, it should have strong brand effectiveness because brand value has a great effect on consumers' perception of the brand. Various researches have been conducted abroad on measuring consumer-based hotel and hospitality brand value. industry. However, in Nepal the concept of brand equity in the hospitality industry is a new concept. In this regard, the present researcher did not find any previous research conducted on customer-based brand value of star hotels in Nepal; research was only carried out on tourism and hospitality. For these various reasons,the present researcher chose to conduct a research to find out the importance of brand value of Nepal star hotels and how the independent variables influence the brand value of Nepal star hotels. The present researcher was interested in this particular topic to find out the various components of brand equity i.e. brand awareness, brand loyalty, brand image and perceived quality which influence the customer to choose a particular hotel among various alternatives. There may be various positive and negative findings while conducting the research but this will help in understanding consumer preferences and identifying various components of brand value of star hotels in Nepal. In this research, the present researcher is mainly concerned with accessing and measuring consumer-based brand value (CBBE) of Nepal's hotel industry i.e. Star hotels. During the analysis and measurement process, the present researcher chooses to conduct a questionnaire among the customers staying in the chosen star hotels. The main purpose of the study is to explore and analyze the consumer-based brand value of star hotels in Nepal. Brand value has become one of the important components in the service and hospitality industry. This study aims to identify the gaps that hotels need to fill from the customers' perspective. To achieve the main aim, the specific aims of this research paper are as follows: i. To find out the impacts of brand awareness, brand loyalty, brand image and perceived quality on customer-based brand equity of star hotels.ii. To analyze the factors determining customer-based brand value of star hotels in Nepal. Taking into consideration, the context, the missing link, the objectives and the problem statement, the present researcher conducted this study to answer the following research questions (RQs):RQ1: What are the impacts of brand awareness, brand loyalty, brand image and perceived quality on the customer-based brand equity of star hotels? RQ2: What are the factors that determine the customer-based brand equity of star hotels? This research is conducted to analyze and explore the customer-based brand value of star hotels in Nepal. In this study on customer-based brand equity of star hotels in Nepal, brand equity is the dependent variable while brand awareness, brand loyalty, perceived quality and brand image are independent variables. After determining the independent and dependent variables of the research and developing the research question, the following hypotheses are generated. Hypothesis 1H1: There is a significant relationship between brand awareness and brand equity of star hotels. Hypothesis 2H2: There is a significant relationshipbetween brand loyalty and brand equity of star hotels. Hypothesis 3H3: There is a significant relationship between brand image and brand value of star hotels. Hypothesis 4H4: There is a significant relationship between perceived quality and brand value of star hotels. Brand value is a critical asset for any organization. Brand equity refers to the value added to the organization. In this regard, the present researcher has predicted and realized several future implications on brand value, consumer-based brand value and its implications for building a strong level of quality hotel strategic policy by designing and executing branding activities through communications in brand value. This research highlighted the importance of brand value to acquire more customers in star hotels and develop star hotels as a strong service and tourism brand. The findings of this research are also important for all Nepal star hotels, tourism industries and the entire hospitality industry as a whole. And this adds further value also in the field of study of this related subject. Furthermore, it will serve as a reference for those other students who intend to study a similar topic. This research can be important for hotels because it helps in exploring customer-based brand value of star hotels in Nepal. Travelers and guests can also benefit from this research, and it will be much easier for hotels to make changes and improve their practices. This study will be useful for marketers because it will help them to find out the dimensions of brand value and also compare them with hotel industries. It will help academics and future research to know how customer-based brand equity is created. It will also help those researchers in the field of marketing and branding who follow and support integrated marketing communication which plays a very important role in creating and maintaining relationships with stakeholders and leveraging those relationships to create customer-based brand value. The dimensions used in this study will provide a systematic approach to managers so that they can formulate strategies for their brands. This study will open doors for those academics and future researchers. The finding of this research is limited to the hospitality industry. The study is limited to star hotels located right in the country's capital. Furthermore, this research is conducted in only one city in Nepal. There are only limited visitors from a few hotels selected in the search. Among the star-rated hotels in Nepal, only a few hotels have been selected for each star category in Kathmandu. It was not possible to collect data from two-star hotels. Likewise, this research only focused on star-rated hotels, so the findings cannot be generalized to the entire hotel industry. Another limitation of this research was to satisfy the hotel managers in collaboration with the researcher and persuade the hotel customers to collaborate in filling out the questionnaire, many visitors did not have enough time to fill out the questionnaire and few visitors had had difficulty understanding the language. Another limitation of this research is that it focuses only on customer perceptions and did not measure hotel employees' and management's perceptions of customer-based brand value. Therefore, this research highlights the importance of brand value for service industries, especially star hotels, to build their credibility. Hotel: a commercial structure that.

Topic > Ussell, 1991) adds that customer-based brand equity has been defined as the differential effect of brand knowledge on consumer response to brand marketing. Prasad & Dev (2000) stated that building brand equity is considered one of the key drivers of business success. High levels of brand equity are known to lead to greater consumer preferences and purchase intentions (Cobb-Walgren et al., 1995), as well as high returns (Aaker & Jacobson., 1994). Furthermore (Ahmad & Hashim, 2010), they added that building and properly managing brand value has become essential for any business organization and hospitality organizations are no exception. Bailey & Ball (2006) suggested that how well and how well hotel owners relate to hotel brand value also affects hotel performance, and strong brand equity significantly increases the profitability of the hotel industry. If there is a lack of brand value in the hotel industry, this can disturb the outflow of customers from the hotel. Prasad & Dev (2000), argued that when there is a positive customer perception regarding the hotel service, it will automatically lead the hotel towards strong brand equity. Nepal is a developing country where number of tourists visit every year and in almost every season there is a flow of tourists in hotels. The tourism industry has played an important role in generating revenue in Nepal. This sector includes various infrastructure and facilities geared towards tourists visiting the country. The hotel sector is an integral part of the tourism industry in Nepal. Today there are numerous international hotel chains and local hotels are evolving. Most of the star hotels are located in the capital of the country. There are thousands of tourists from all over the world who come to Nepal for various reasons and activities. Tourists travel to various parts of the country for various activities, but most of them spend a lot of time in Kathmandu. Kathmandu star hotels are the prime and prime focus for accommodation for foreigners visiting Nepal. Hotels in Nepal are generally classified into 5 categories (five stars, four stars, three stars, two stars and one star) by (Ministry of Tourism and Civil Aviation, Government of Nepal, 2017), based on their general characteristics and the services they offer. offer. Star Hotels in Nepal has introduced a branded service to the hotel industry in Nepal. Using this brand, star hotels in Nepal offer world class standard service, experience and consistency in the service provided to the visitors so that the visitors are well aware of their brand and are loyal to their service. Brand awareness is improved in various ways, such as advertising, direct emails, word of mouth, and promotional activities (Grover & Srinivasan, 1993). It is very important that star hotels in Nepal focus on brand awareness. Hotels in Nepal are concerned in this case because the more customers know about the hotel, the greater the chance that visitors will recognize, remember and visit the hotel again in their future visit. Nepal star hotels need to expose themselves more to customers to improve brand awareness to create and increase brand loyal consumers who will purchase their product and visit the hotel again (Lewis, Chambers, & Chacko, 1995). Customer loyalty towards hotels in Nepal is very important for hotels because it helps to increase profitability, will increase referrals, helps to reduce marketing costs such as advertising and promotion. Loyal customers are believed to be a strengthfor an organization and this has a positive impact on the success of the organization. Likewise, star hotels should also focus on building and sustaining a positive brand image. It is very important that each star-rated hotel stands out from other competing hotels on the market. Star hotels in Nepal should always be updated and should be innovated, which leads to differentiation and allows their particular brand to stay updated and discover the changes in customers' taste. Starred hotels should also focus on relationship marketing which helps hotels strengthen the relationship with existing customers. This leads hotels to develop high value over time. In the highly competitive hospitality and service industry, the key to increasing and maintaining market share is not only to acquire customers, but it is also important to retain them and make them revisit the hotel again and again. It is very important that every star hotel develops and follows a brand equity model which consists of brand image, brand loyalty, brand association, perceived quality because the combination of these factors will allow the company to achieve a higher brand value. Star rated hotels in Nepal should build the right kind of experience around their hotel brand so that customers have specific and positive thoughts, feelings, opinions and perceptions about the hotel brand. When there is strong brand equity in the rated hotels, customers will return, recommend the hotel to their friends, families and others, customers will be loyal and will be less likely to switch to other hotels during their next visit and stay. Therefore, this study aims to find out the customer-based brand value of star hotels in Nepal and to find out the impacts of brand awareness, brand loyalty, brand image and perceived quality and to analyze the factors that determine the customer-based brand value of star hotels. hotels in Nepal. There are always some types of problems and challenges faced by every industry. Hotels managed in Nepal are also facing several branding issues. There are different types of guests and visitors who prefer different types of hotels and services. The hotel industry includes all forms of activities related to the provision of accommodation, food and beverages and various types of other services that attract and develop tourism in any country. In the hospitality industry, today all the hotels are very concerned about succeeding in the competitive world. Tourism and hospitality is an important sector that has helped generate more revenue and national income. Nepal's hospitality is emerging because there are thousands of tourists visiting Nepal for various tourism activities such as ecotourism, mountain tourism, wildlife tourism, rural tourism, religious and pilgrimage tourism, e-tourism etc. Tourism has played a vital role in the development of the hotel sector and the economy of the country as a whole. This research was conducted to find out the level of awareness among hotel customers, the level of loyalty and attachment of customers towards a particular hotel, the level of attitude of customers and their vision towards the hotel i.e. the image and brand judgment, i.e. finding the level of perceived quality. In today's context the hotel sector is becoming and is an increasingly growing sector in Nepal in terms of international hotel chains entering the market. Definitely, the hotel industry develops rapidly in any region and has become a global industry. There are manypeople who depend on hotels when travelling, doing business, visiting abroad to meet their friends or family and so on. Having a brand is not enough in the hotel industry, it should have strong brand effectiveness because brand value has a great effect on consumers' perception of the brand. Various researches have been conducted abroad on measuring consumer-based hotel and hospitality brand value. industry. However, in Nepal the concept of brand equity in the hospitality industry is a new concept. In this regard, the present researcher did not find any previous research conducted on customer-based brand value of star hotels in Nepal; research was only carried out on tourism and hospitality. For these various reasons,the present researcher chose to conduct a research to find out the importance of brand value of Nepal star hotels and how the independent variables influence the brand value of Nepal star hotels. The present researcher was interested in this particular topic to find out the various components of brand equity i.e. brand awareness, brand loyalty, brand image and perceived quality which influence the customer to choose a particular hotel among various alternatives. There may be various positive and negative findings while conducting the research but this will help in understanding consumer preferences and identifying various components of brand value of star hotels in Nepal. In this research, the present researcher is mainly concerned with accessing and measuring consumer-based brand value (CBBE) of Nepal's hotel industry i.e. Star hotels. During the analysis and measurement process, the present researcher chooses to conduct a questionnaire among the customers staying in the chosen star hotels. The main purpose of the study is to explore and analyze the consumer-based brand value of star hotels in Nepal. Brand value has become one of the important components in the service and hospitality industry. This study aims to identify the gaps that hotels need to fill from the customers' perspective. To achieve the main aim, the specific aims of this research paper are as follows: i. To find out the impacts of brand awareness, brand loyalty, brand image and perceived quality on customer-based brand equity of star hotels.ii. To analyze the factors determining customer-based brand value of star hotels in Nepal. Taking into consideration, the context, the missing link, the objectives and the problem statement, the present researcher conducted this study to answer the following research questions (RQs):RQ1: What are the impacts of brand awareness, brand loyalty, brand image and perceived quality on the customer-based brand equity of star hotels? RQ2: What are the factors that determine the customer-based brand equity of star hotels? This research is conducted to analyze and explore the customer-based brand value of star hotels in Nepal. In this study on customer-based brand equity of star hotels in Nepal, brand equity is the dependent variable while brand awareness, brand loyalty, perceived quality and brand image are independent variables. After determining the independent and dependent variables of the research and developing the research question, the following hypotheses are generated. Hypothesis 1H1: There is a significant relationship between brand awareness and brand equity of star hotels. Hypothesis 2H2: There is a significant relationshipbetween brand loyalty and brand equity of star hotels. Hypothesis 3H3: There is a significant relationship between brand image and brand value of star hotels. Hypothesis 4H4: There is a significant relationship between perceived quality and brand value of star hotels. Brand value is a critical asset for any organization. Brand equity refers to the value added to the organization. In this regard, the present researcher has predicted and realized several future implications on brand value, consumer-based brand value and its implications for building a strong level of quality hotel strategic policy by designing and executing branding activities through communications in brand value. This research highlighted the importance of brand value to acquire more customers in star hotels and develop star hotels as a strong service and tourism brand. The findings of this research are also important for all Nepal star hotels, tourism industries and the entire hospitality industry as a whole. And this adds further value also in the field of study of this related subject. Furthermore, it will serve as a reference for those other students who intend to study a similar topic. This research can be important for hotels because it helps in exploring customer-based brand value of star hotels in Nepal. Travelers and guests can also benefit from this research, and it will be much easier for hotels to make changes and improve their practices. This study will be useful for marketers because it will help them to find out the dimensions of brand value and also compare them with hotel industries. It will help academics and future research to know how customer-based brand equity is created. It will also help those researchers in the field of marketing and branding who follow and support integrated marketing communication which plays a very important role in creating and maintaining relationships with stakeholders and leveraging those relationships to create customer-based brand value. The dimensions used in this study will provide a systematic approach to managers so that they can formulate strategies for their brands. This study will open doors for those academics and future researchers. The finding of this research is limited to the hospitality industry. The study is limited to star hotels located right in the country's capital. Furthermore, this research is conducted in only one city in Nepal. There are only limited visitors from a few hotels selected in the search. Among the star-rated hotels in Nepal, only a few hotels have been selected for each star category in Kathmandu. It was not possible to collect data from two-star hotels. Likewise, this research only focused on star-rated hotels, so the findings cannot be generalized to the entire hotel industry. Another limitation of this research was to satisfy the hotel managers in collaboration with the researcher and persuade the hotel customers to collaborate in filling out the questionnaire, many visitors did not have enough time to fill out the questionnaire and few visitors had had difficulty understanding the language. Another limitation of this research is that it focuses only on customer perceptions and did not measure hotel employees' and management's perceptions of customer-based brand value. Therefore, this research highlights the importance of brand value for service industries, especially star hotels, to build their credibility. Hotel: a commercial structure that.