Child Protection Policy UK

Child Protection Policy UK Anglo-Saxon society has traditionally entrusted parents with the responsibility of bringing up their children. Parents, under such societal traditions, are required to look after the physical, emotional and mental needs of their children, provide them with a warm and comfortable family atmosphere, educate them to the best of their ability, and ready them for future adult responsibilities.* Birchall The overwhelming majority of people in the UK try to follow these tenets to the best of their abilities. Social changes like the increased incidence of divorces, live-in relationships, and single parenting, whilst significantly changing the social and economic structure of UK society, have not affected basic child rearing responsibilities. Modern day parents remain as committed to their children as their predecessors. Whilst the overwhelming majority of members of British society think of children as precious, both in the individual and in the collective context, some parents exhibit significantly deviant behaviour and subject their children to neglect and various forms of mental and physical abuse. *Arthurs Children are also vulnerable to physical and other forms of abuse outside their domestic environments for a variety of reasons. The social services infrastructure of the UK, which came into being as an integral component of the welfare state after the closure of the Second World War, has always emphasised the need to safeguard and protect children. Policy makers of different governments, both conservative and labour, have consistently made efforts to bring about laws and policies for the safeguarding of children, adolescents and vulnerable young adults. The social work infrastructure of the country also provides high priority to protecting children from different forms of abuse. Brandon A significant number of children in the country, despite the presence of a plethora of protective laws and policies and the existence of a huge, nationwide, protective social service infrastructure, are subjected to various degrees of emotional, mental and physical abuse.CReighton Incidents of child abuse and death continue to regularly be reported in the national media. One such episode, which ended in the tragic death of 8 year old Victoria Climbie in 2000, led to the institution of The Laming Commission and to significant changes in social welfare policy. * The formulation and implementation of the Every Child Matters (ECM) programme, which constitutes the overarching structure for child care in the country, places immense emphasis of the safety and security of children.* The countrys social care policies and social services infrastructure contain specific policies and processes for the identification of children at risk, followed by mandatory need assessment, and the provisioning of adequate security to them through planned interventions. The continuance of physical abuse against children, some episodes of which lead to substantial physical injury and even death, is a cause of intense distress to the people and policy makers of the country. Much of media debate and discussion on the issue assigns the responsibility for such continued violence against children, despite the existence of extensive preventive infrastructure, very squarely, on inadequate managerial leadership and decision making skills at various levels of the social services and social work infrastructure, as well as in other public services like health, education and policing. Learning Lessons Ofsted, Lord Laming Whilst incidents of violence against children have in the past led to inte nse criticism of individual social workers and of the social services system, contemporary nationwide soul searching over child safety is bringing up concerns regarding managerial control, leadership and decision making, across the ambit of the concerned public service organisations. Laming The Serious Cases Review, a national fact finding process that among other things investigates episodes of serious violence against children, has time and again provided details on reasons behind individual child abuse cases, the learning to be taken from such episodes, and the actions needed for the prevention of recurrence of such horrific incidents. U/LL The continuance of such episodes, despite the presence of extensive preventive machinery and the availability of such significant information has created confusion and concern over the ability of public service organisations to control and reduce child abuse and related deaths. Observers and analysts feel that a number of causes have combined to produce, stagnation, inefficiency, and ineffectiveness in the decision making of public sector agencies, and in their ability to work in cooperation and in collaboration with each other. This study takes up the investigation of child abuse in the UK, the findings of the serious case reviews, and the learning obtained from such reviews. This is followed by an exploration and analysis of the factors that limit the role of such learning in the actual decision making processes of various public agencies that are associated with and are responsible for the safety of children in the UK. 2. Commentary Legislation and Public Policy on Child Protection Abuse against children can occur in numerous different circumstances and across social and economic segments. Children are specifically vulnerable in circumstances or environments that concern family violence, bullying, substance misuse, learning inadequacies, mental health problems, and social and economic difficulties; also when children are unplanned, unwanted, premature or disabled. Vulnerable children may again be open to threats from more than one type of neglect or abuse. CPG The occurrence or possibility of significant harm provides the trigger for initiation of child safety and protection measures in the UK. The occurrence of significant harm depends upon a range of issues like the extent of abuse, its impact on the child, and the circumstances in which the abuse took or can take place. Whilst even a single traumatic episode may constitute significant harm, the term is more representative of a cumulative pattern of episodes that adversely affect a child. CPG The Children Act 1989, as well as The Children (Scotland) Act 1995, state that all local authorities must act jointly to safeguard children in need. The Children Act 2004 subsequently introduced a statutory structure for local cooperation for protection of children in England and Wales. All organisations that are responsible for providing services to children, including those that are engaged in education and health care, need to necessarily take steps for safeguarding of children in the discharging of their normal functions. CPG The English, Scottish and Welsh Executives have published detailed guidelines on inter-agency working on protecting children, which are available on their websites. CPG The Social Services is the lead child protection agency. It is statutorily responsible for making enquiries into all issues concerning child protection and is the main contact point for child welfare. The police are also empowered to intervene in all circumstances that could concern the safety of children. Local Safeguarding Children Boards (LSCBs) and Child Protection Committees (CPCs) are responsible for outlining the ways in which relevant organisations in individual local areas must cooperate to provide safety and security to children. CPG All organisations responsible for providing services to children are required to have clear structures and practices for child protection in place. These include (a) specific lines of accountability for work in child protection, (b) arrangements for suitable checks on new volunteers and staff, (c) procedures for handling of allegations of abuse against volunteers and staff members, (d) suitable programmes for training of staff, (e) a policy for child protection, (f) appropriate procedures for whistle blowing and (g) a culture that encourages the addressing of issues related to safeguarding of children. CPG Health care professionals who have apprehensions about neglect or abuse should adhere to local child protection procedures and should have access to required support and advice. CPG NHS organisations must have a doctor and nurse with requisite expertise in child protection. Private hospitals also need to compulsorily have child protection policies as, well as named professionals who possess expertise in child protection. It is also mandatory for all professionals dealing with children, as well as members of the general public, to bring apprehensions or fears about the vulnerability of any child in their domain of knowledge, (who is or could be under physical threat), to the attention of the local social services department.CPG It thereafter becomes mandatory on the social services to take such reference into account, carry out detailed assessments of the needs of the child under threat and plan and implement appropriate interventions. CPG Serious Case Reviews and their Findings The social service in the UK has been rocked by instances of child abuse, some of which have led to death. Two year old James Bulgar was brutally murdered by two ten year olds, Thompson and Venables, in 1993. JB The incident, which attracted immense publicity and public outrage and led to the imprisonment of the two perpetrators for many years, increased awareness of the dangers faced by children and young adults and the need to bring in policies and procedures for improving their safety. The tragic death of 8 year old Victoria Climbie, in 2000, at the hands of her carers, led to the institution of a public inquiry, the severe indictment of social workers for being negligent towards their duties and responsibilities, and to a number of positive developments in the area of child protection. The publication of the Laming Report, in 2002, led to the formulation of the Every Child Matters programme and the enactment of The Children Act 2004. The death of 17 month old baby P, in 2007, which occurred out of injuries suffered at the hands of his carers, (his mother and her boyfriend), during a period in which he was repeatedly seen by social workers brought home the fact that children continued to be unsafe despite the introduction of legal enactments and policy reforms, and the strengthening of the social services sector. * The neglect, abuse, or death of a child being a matter of immense national concern, UK public policy calls for the undertaking of serious care reviews in circumstances (a) where a child has been seriously injured or harmed, or has died, and (b) abuse is suspected or known to have been a factor in the occurrence of the incident. Chapter 8 of the Government Document Working Together to Safeguard Children (1999) states that a LSCB must necessarily carry out a serious case review in all circumstances where a child dies and neglect or abuse is suspected or known to be a factor. Learning All LSCBs are also enjoined to consider the conduct of a serious case review in the following circumstances. (a) a child sustains a potentially life-threatening injury or serious and permanent impairment to health and development through abuse or neglect, (b) a child has been subject to particularly serious sexual abuse, (c) a childs parent has been murdered and a homicide review is being initiated, (d) a child has been killed by a parent with a mental illness, (e) the case gives rise to concerns about inter-agency working to protect children from harm. (Learningà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦, 2008) The same document defines three specific aims of a serious case review, namely (a) the establishment of whether any lessons about inter-agency working can be learnt from the case, (b) the clear identification of the nature of these lessons, the ways in which such lessons will be acted upon, and the change that can be expected to result from such working, and (c) improvement of inter-agency working and the institution of better safeguards for children. when a child dies and abuse or neglect are known or suspected to be a factor in the death, local agencies should consider immediately whether there are other children at risk of harm who need safeguarding (and) whether there are any lessons to be learned from the tragedy about the ways in which they work together to safeguard children. (Sinclair Bullock, 2002) Serious case reviews, it is stipulated, should be conducted by individuals who are independent of all involved agencies and professionals, and should be submitted within a period of four months of the decision for carrying out the review. LSCBs are obliged to send each completed review for evaluation to Ofsted. The results of the Ofsted evaluation are shared with LSCBs and constitute an integral part of the information used for the yearly performance assessments of local areas. Learning The Ofsted study of the 50 serious case reviews received by the agency from April 2007 to March 2008 provides significant information on the nature of child abuse, the reasons for such abuse, and the working of different agencies who are entrusted with the responsibility of preventing such abuse. *The study reveals that children aged less than one year formed the largest group of the total surveyed population. This segment, which comprised of 21 children, was followed by the 11 to 15 age segment (14 cases), the 1 to 5 age segment (8 cases) and finally the over 16 segment (6 cases). The majority of these children died from the abuse that was inflicted upon them. In the case of children aged less than one year, the commonest cause of injury or death was physical assault by a parent, or the partner of a parent. Amongst the children and young people in the age group 11 to 16, 9 killed themselves, 3 were murdered by other young persons, and 1 died of anorexia. The key issues that arose from the evaluation of 50 serious case reviews concerned drug and alcohol misuse, domestic violence, mental illness, and learning difficulties or disabilities. In the case of drug and alcohol misuse, reviews found that the concerned agencies did not suitably evaluate and access the risks that could come about from such misuse, particularly in the case of very young babies. Domestic violence also featured in a number of serious case reviews, often in conjunction with drug and alcohol misuse. Agencies were again found to be inadequate in understanding, accepting and assessing the effect of domestic violence on young children. In some of these cases the history of domestic violence in the family was known to outsiders and police intervention had occurred in the past. Agencies, particularly the police, did not follow policies and procedures, with identified issues including poor levels of police training and inadequate attention to recording and reporting of domestic violence occurrences. Mental illness came across as an issue of concern in a number of reviews. In many cases the health visitor and the midwife were unaware of the histories of the mental health of the mother, or of the learning difficulties of the father, which otherwise would have influenced their assessments. A number of delays occurred in the assessment and treatment of people in need of assistance from mental health services. A few cases involved issues related both to mental health and to learning disabilities. The serious case reviews repeatedly point to specific inadequacies on the part of agencies in dealing with child abuse problems. The various agencies were found to be limited in their understanding of basic signs, symptoms and factors concerning child protection risks. Agencies tended to respond reactively to a particular situation rather than by perceiving the situation in the context of the history of the case. Agencies, by themselves, did not have complete details of the involved families or records of their concerns. The agency staff accepted, on a number of occasions, standards of care that in the normal course would not be acceptable by most families. Very little direct contact was established with the children in order to find out their thoughts and feelings about their situations. In many cases professionals tended to be uncertain about the importance of child protection issues, more so in complex and chaotic family environments, and placed inordinate trust on the statements of parents. Families on the other hand often expressed hostility to establishment of contact with professionals and engineered numerous strategies to keep them at a distance. Very few assessments contained evaluation of the quality of relationships between children and parents. In many cases multiple assessments were carried out on families, which were followed by the establishment of plans that did not contain any clear expectations of the changes that were needed for the sake of the children, and the likely consequences, if such changes did not occur. Many of the reviews reveal a number of lost opportunities on the part of universal services for suitable intervention and prevention of abuse. Such agencies included schools, health services and other services like housing, Connexions and Surestart. The majority of reviews pointed out that whilst policies and procedures were by and large appropriate and adequate, there was poor practice in the implementation of basic procedures, including in assessment, planning and decision making. With the understanding of the signs, symptoms and risk factors of child protection being inadequate, agency staff continued to be unaware of the possibility in the situations they were handling. Communication, both between and within agencies, was found to be poor; and specifically so with health agencies. Record keeping was essentially poor across agencies and particularly so in health services and schools. All agencies failed in seeing children in person, recording how they were, how they looked and wha t they said or noticed alterations in appearance or behaviour. Management oversight was identified in practically 50% of the evaluations, mostly in connection with social care managers. The absence of the management overview was common in cases concerning chronic neglect. Managers in such cases, instead of trying to see the larger picture, tended to react and make their decisions in response to specific incidents, as and when they arose. One manager decided it was not appropriate to remove four children on the basis of one minor injury and that instead a full assessment should be undertaken, without taking into account the catalogue of previous incidents and concerns, and the fact that the family had already been assessed four times. (Learning, 2008) Individual staff errors, in connection with social care staff, as well as members of police and health agencies were mentioned in a few cases as being instrumental in the lack of prevention of child abuse. Whilst staff capacity and resources were by and large not felt to be a major reason behind the failings, the requirement for additional staff training was mentioned in the majority of serious case reviews. The lack of basic awareness of indicators of abuse in important staff groups like teachers, health visitors, GPs, midwifes and emergency and accident personnel was felt to be a matter of great concern. Poor assessment and planning was a concern in most evaluations. Issues like parenting abilities, drug and alcohol dependence, and mental health problems were not addressed in decisions concerning the need for assessments. Universal services were felt to be inadequate in undertaking risk assessments for purposes of deciding whether specific cases should be referred to social care agencies. Members of universal services did not appear to have competencies in listening to children, in questioning what was presented to them, and in being open to the chances of abuse. With the prevalence of a rule of optimism, it was hard for such people to be curious about what the children were facing. Social care services were found failing in acting in accordance with their procedures, both with regard to assessment and planning. Assessments were not made in a number of cases, without such actions being supported by adequate reasons. Assessments, in other cases, were poorly done, often failing to take account of the wishes, feelings, or situation of the child, or of information available with other agencies. A number of reviews revealed agency neglect. Agencies, in such cases knew the families for considerable periods. The common themes that emerged in areas of neglect concerned (a) the failures of individual agencies to possess complete pictures of families, situations, and records, (b) agency tendencies to respond reactively, (c) resigned acceptance of otherwise unacceptable standards of care (d) failure to make direct contact with children and (d) not taking children seriously, when they try to tell agency representatives about their situations. An important message that arose from one of the reviews related to the issue of family support obscuring the need for child protection. It also was felt that (a) agencies should be more alert to the possibility of unintentional collusion by professionals in the continual abuse of children and that (b) decisive action needed to be taken when evidence of change with regard to circumstances of children was insufficient. The evaluation also takes note of poor record keeping, especially in the case of schools. Schools, in more than 60% of the cases, did not have comprehensive records, either of families of children, or of their attendance or non attendance. The Lord Laming Report on The Protection of Children in England, 2009, also makes a number of negative observations about management skills, leadership, and quality of decision making in the agencies responsible for directly and indirectly safeguarding children. Laming The report specifically calls upon the relevant Cabinet Subcommittee to ensure the adoption of comprehensive and collaborative national strategies for delivery of local strategies by all government departments involved in safety of children. The report calls upon Directors of Children Services, senior service managers, police area commanders and chief executives of PCTs to frequently review referrals in cases concerning the safety of children and ensure a sound approach in terms of multi-agency working, risk assessment, onward referral and decision making. DCSs without direct experience in protecting children are required to appoint senior managers with required skills and experience. The Laming Report further calls for effective leadership at the national, regional and local level in involved public agencies in order to provide the support or expertise required for adequate child protection. It places great emphasis on the role of the Directors of Children Services in protecting children and places the onus of responsibility squarely on their shoulders. The time is long past when the most junior employee should carry the heaviest burden of accountability. The performance and effectiveness of the most senior managers in each of these services should be assessed against the quality of the outcomes for the most vulnerable children and young people. (Laming, 2009) Managers, the report says, need to lead from the front and take personal interest in delivery of frontline services. They need to ensure that the stipulations regarding referral and assessment in working together to safeguard children are being adhered to comprehensively. Managers are also called upon to ensure that communication, information sharing and decision making between the local services and within each local service are capable of keeping children safe, even in times of pressure. They should value and support frontline managers, ensure rigorous management control of decision making and improve and shorten communication lines between senior managers and child protection staff. Management and Decision Making Issues in Public Service Agencies Study and analysis of the material available in serious case reviews reveals a number of issues of concern. At one level the concerns of policy makers, individual experts and monitoring agencies like Ofsted are very obvious. Such concerns have led to the enactment of child protection law and to the introduction of nationwide policies within the overall ambit of the Every Child Matters programme; which work towards ensuring the safety of children through the combined multidisciplinary efforts of the education, health, police and social services. Changes in attitudes towards increasing the effectiveness of working of government agencies have resulted in the introduction of managerialism and much stronger accountability among the executives and staff of these agencies. Structures have been put in place and procedures introduced to ensure better coordination and closer involvement between different agencies in delivery of services in various areas related to child protection. Members of the NHS, individual GPs, managements of schools, and members of the social services have repeatedly been tol d about and are aware of their need to work together, and take proactive steps on their own, without waiting for instructions or approval in any circumstance where the safety of a child has come or can come under threat. The extent of media discussion and public outrage that followed the deaths of James Bulger, Victoria Climbie and Baby P indicates the expectations of the nation from these services, with regard to protection of children and vulnerable young adults. The continuance of brutality and abuse towards children, resulting in injury and death, despite the introduction and implementation of numerous multi-dimensional and holistic measures, whilst being a matter of concern, primarily points to ineffective management and decision making at the level of service delivery in these various organisations. The key learning that emerges from the serious case reviews relates to (a) basic lack of understanding in agencies regarding the signs and symptoms of child abuse, (b) under establishment of meaningful contact with the children at threat, (c) credence to the views expressed by parents, (d) inability to counter the engineered hostility of parents, (e) poor quality assessments, (e) inadequate coordination between critical services like the police, the NHS, and schools with social services, (f) a high degree of management oversight, (g) the tendency of managers to ignore the larger picture and react to specific situations, (h) poor assessment and planning, (i) lack of alertness to the possibility of unintentional collusion by professionals in the continuance of abuse on children and (j) absence of decisive action in the presence of evidence relating to abuse of children. Lord Laming, in his comprehensive report also takes up the issue of management at the agency level very strongly. His comments indicate (a) the need for recruitment and retention of workers engaged in child protection, (b) undue emphasis on targets and processes, (c) bureaucratic, lengthy, and over complicated tick-box methods for assessment, (d) lack of coordination between different agencies responsible for child protection, (e) inadequate training and support for frontline workers in the police, social services and health care, (f) poor staff morale, (g) inadequate and low quality supervision, (h) high workloads and (i) the need for some resource augmentation, both in the police and in the social services. Such circumstances are exceedingly common in poorly managed organisations in the private sector, and are also reflective of many adequately resourced but inefficiently managed public sector organisations. Whilst sustained poor management in private business firms mostly leads to economic losses and organisational closure, similar situations in publicly funded government enterprises or agencies lead to continued inefficiency and poor product and service quality. Such situations in public service organisations entrusted with vitally important responsibilities can have literally tragic consequences; as is seen by the continuance of episodes of child brutality and child deaths. The continuance of such a situation is also absolutely unacceptable. Lord Laming, in a candid aside, remarks that he has often been tempted to tell managers of ineffective agencies to just do it, even whilst realising that such impatience was unlikely to lead to any constructive results. Laming The essence of management, both in the private and public sector lies in the making and in the quality of decisions by organisational managers. Managers in the course of their work are continuously required to assess alternatives and take decisions, on a broad range of issues, which can have both long and short term implications. Strategy, Proctor Extant management literature is awash with different decision making styles, which range from immediate and instinctive reactions to the use of complex statistical models and decision trees. Whilst decision making involves consideration of numerous factors, it is also subject to the influence of different obvious and latent forces. It involves both quantitative and qualitative analysis, even as it is affected by rational (objective) judgement and non-rational (subjective) factors like organisational environment and culture. Numerous subjective issues like the personality of decision makers, relationships of decision makers with other organisational members, peer pressure, expectations of seniors and juniors and personal agendas of decision makers influence decisions. Individuals engaged in social services are additionally bound to act in accordance with clear and strong codes of ethics and against oppression and discrimination. Professionals in other services that are associated with child protection, like schools, health services and the police are also influenced and controlled by their particular codes of conduct, their professional ethics, and their organisational norms. Decision making in such environments, which are likely to be chaotic rather than stable is essentially a complex issue and obviously subject to various degrees of success. Sources on Decision Making Whilst the possibility of decisions being wrong is normal in all human situations, the possibility of extremely unfortunate consequences of wrong decisions in areas of child safety make the institutionalisation of sound, rational and essentially ethical decision making processes in concerned necessary. Peter Drucker identifies eight decision making practices followed by successful executives Ask What needs to be done? Ask What is right for the enterprise? Develop action plans Take responsibility for decisions Take responsibility for communicating Focus on opportunities rather than problems Run productive meetings Think and say we rather than I (Decisionà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦, 2010) Drucker Druckers suggestions go to the heart of the decision making process with fundamental questions on the need for the decision, followed by creation of focus on areas of improvement, rather than on problems, the development of collective action, and finally the need for responsibility and communication. Ralph Keeney (1998), states that decision making failures often occur because of decision makers tending to consider too few alternatives in their decision making process. Decision makers, Keeney states, need to assess their problems carefully and decide upon objectives by questioning goals, objectives, aspirations, interests and fears. They also need to carefully assess the consequences of different alternatives before choosing routes of action. Modern day managers are told to devise different alternatives through imagining of different options and use of brainstorming techniques. Limitations in Decision Making Practices of Managers of PSOs Managers in business settings tend to look at issues differently from those engaged in public service organisations. They have

Changing Face of World Missions Essay -- Analysis, Michael Pocock

In Matthew 28:19-20, Matthew records Jesus’ last words to His disciples these verses have become known as â€Å"The Great Commission.†Since, the giving of the Great Commission followers of Christ has left their own culture in order to engage another with the saving message of the Gospel. Numerous books, articles and blogs have been written on the subject of World Evangelization or Missions. One such book on missions is called, â€Å"The Changing Face of World Missions: Engaging Contemporary Issues and Trends† this book was written by Michael Pocock, Gailyn Van Rheenen, and Douglas McConnell. All three men are experts in the field of missions; the writers have served overseas and are now currently engaged in equipping the next generation through teaching at Dallas and Fuller Theological Seminary. The authors bring a wealth of personal and academic excellence to their particular chapters as well as a passion to carry the Gospel to the ends of the earth. The balance between academia and real world application make â€Å"The Changing Face of World Missions†, an informative and exciting read. â€Å"The Changing Face of World Missions† attempts to educate readers as well as evaluate certain trends which are taking place around the world in the area of missions. The book is divided into three sections; which are the global context of missions, missional context, and strategic context. The authors describe the chapters by saying, â€Å"(t)he global context describes major trends in the world in which we minister; the missional context deals with trends internal to the body of Christ and the mission community; and the strategic context focuses on trends of a strategic or procedural nature† (14). The thesis for the book is found on page twelve where the authors e... ... book needs a chapter in which all of the arguments and information may be summed up. My eyes were open within section two to the work of the Gospel within other cultures. I would apply the lessons learned through the book by focusing on hospitality, reaching out to internationals here in America by inviting them into my house and sharing a meal with internationals. I will also apply the principles in relation to the use of money and the need to do things in ministry which are reproducible by local believers. I would recommend this book to serious students of missions stressing the importance of the case studies which allow individuals interested in missions to apply concepts within real world examples. â€Å"The Changing Face of World Missions† is an informative and educational book which should be included on the bookshelf of any serious student of missions.

Dangers of Suicide Websites Essay -- essays research papers

Suicide Made Easy The thought of suicide can enter the mind of anyone in any age group. For those who come across a suicide website, the information given can make suicide turn from a fleeting thought to an action. On Thursday, October 10, 2007 Kazunari Saito, a 33-year-old electrician, was arrested for the murder of Sayaka Nishizawa, a 21-year-old woman. Saito was the host of a suicide web site where he provided his viewers with ways to commit suicide, this is where he and Nishizawa first came in contact. Nishizawa reportedly paid Saito $1,700 to help her to kill herself. On the night of April 12, 2007 Saito gave Nishizawa 20 to 30 sleeping pills and then suffocated her to ?finish the job?. (Austin Modine, 2007) Above are the statistics taken from 2004 showing the differences in age, race, and sex. The rate, number that year, and average suicide per day are represented here. (American Association of Suicidology, 2004) A rarely known or acknowledged fact is that not only children and teenagers are suicidal. The major difference between suicide attempts among elders and youth is that elder suicide attempts are more commonly successful (Reference Services Review, 2003, Vol. 31 Issue 2, p175-184, 10p). The American Association of Suicidology states that in 2004, 32,439 people died from suicide attempts. This means that someone commits suicide every 16.2 minutes. Of this total, every 1 hour and 41.4 minutes an elderly person commits suicide, compared to every 2 hours and 2.1 minutes that a young person commits suicide. These are not the only two categories in which suicide falls, of the 32, 439 suicides in 2004, 22, 925 were committed by adults between the ages of 25 and 64 (Section 1,2, and 3, 2005) For many, a sui... ...nce Source Review Volume: 31 Issue: 2 Page: 175 ? 184. Retrieved February 15, 2008 from University of Phoenix Library Lewis, Penny (2001) Rights Discourse and Assisted Suicide. American Journal of Law and Medicine. Vol. 27 Issue 1. Retrieved February 15, 2008 from University of Phoenix Library. Megan Meier Suicide (2006) Retrieved March 8, 2008 from hitsusa.com/blog/317/megan-meier- suicide/ Sinderbrand, Rebecca (June 20, 2003) Point, Click, Die. Newsweek Vol. 141 Issue 28. Retrieved February 15, 2008 from University of Phoenix Library Stone, Geo (2007) Suicide and Attempted Suicide: Methods and Consequences. Retrieved March 19, 2008 from http://www.suicidemethods.net/ TOKUS's Handy Four-Pillar Practice Archive (2004). A Practical Guide to Suicide. Retrieved February 15, 2008, from http://www.satanservice.org/tokus/suicide/ guide/#I.D

Brand Equity, Perceived Value and Revisit Intentions †an Evidence from the Hotel Industry

CHAPTER – I INTRODUCTION 1. 1 INTRODUCTION Both the domestic and foreign arrivals have shown a rapid increase with India emerging as a vibrant and varied tourist destinations. The domestic tourism industry grew at a rate of 10. 7 % in whereas foreign arrivals at 8. 1% in 2010 (Indian Tourism Statistics,2010). To feed this splurge in arrivals hotels are booming across India and this most importantly has not been restricted to just metros. Even second tier cities like Bhopal, Amritsar, Surat, Ranchi etc are being looked upon as potential feasible destinations of upscale star brands.The hotel industry in India can be divided into eight segments based on the norms set by the Ministry of Tourism. They are 5-Star Deluxe, 5-Star, 4-Star, 3-Star, 2-Star, 1-Star, Heritage and Unclassified. However, the 3-star, 2-star, 1star and unclassified hotels in India are spread across the length and breadth of the country and are highly fragmented in nature, whereas, the upscale, mid market and h eritage categories are highly organized. Domestic tourist arrivals are the backbone of Indian Hotel Industry as the number of Domestic Tourists is more than 100 times (Indian Tourism Statistics, 2010) as compared to Foreign Tourists.Domestic tourists are of 2 types, Leisure travelers and Business travelers. Growth in leisure travelers is driven by rising personal discretionary income, evolving lifestyle, growing number of multi earner families, weekend vacation culture, improvement in rail, air as well as road connectivity, diverse topography and rich cultural heritage. Drivers of domestic business traveling are rise in trade and commerce, increasing geographical spread of companies, growing MICE culture. Players like Lemon Tree, Ginger have identified that there is dearth of quality rooms in the mid market segment.Entry of organized players is expected to improve the quality of offerings and bridge the wide gap between midmarket and upscale category. The competition in hotels has u ndergone drastic changes from being dependent on service or price advantages to increasingly relying on brand management. This change has been typically accompanied by the accelerating effects caused by the massive entries of foreign brands into India. Since all hotels basically offer the same products and services customers do tend to rely on established brands or where they have visited for easy selection.BRAND EQUITY, PERCEIVED VALUE AND REVISIT INTENTIONS 1 As Prasad and Dev (2000) stated, the stronger the hotel brand equity, the more customers will prefer that hotel brand. Brand equity had been widely recognized as the most valuable asset to companies and has become a top management priority since it can more easily retain customer loyalty, launch product extension and be synonym with price premium (Aaker, 1991; Lassar et al. , 1995; Keller, 1993). It is due to this fact that hotels prefer acquiring an existing brand for expansion rather than developing a new in-house brand.Exa mple Marriott international took over Ritz-Carlton by adopting an acquisition strategy rather than developing a new luxury segment. In marketing aspects, building a strong brand yields a number of marketing advantages. This includes greater customer loyalty, higher resiliency to endure crisis, and increased marketing communication effectiveness. Ambler et al. (2002) argued that great effort should be exerted for creating and sustaining customer-based brand equity, in that the recognition of the importance of customers? value to a firm? s asset has been increasing in recent days.Farquhar (1989) argued that the brand has value only if it has meaning to the customer. Cobb-Walgren insisted (1995) that â€Å"it is important to understand how brand value is created in the mind of the consumer and how it translates into choice of behavior† (p. 26). Moreover in India brand equity as concept is very different. Customers may perceive an unclassified hotel to be a stronger brand, which they can associate themselves to than a 3 star rated hotel. The categorization of the brand may be based on their familiarity with the staff, the ambience offered, price etc.Thus measuring brand from the customer? s point of view becomes very important. Krishnan (1996) contended that an investigation of customers? mindsets should be conducted before measuring any other aspects of brand equity because customers mindsets about brand is a starting point for understanding the brand. Barwise (1993) stated that the only way to predict marketing actions of brand is measuring the brand equity from the customers? perspectives. By measuring these customer perspectives tactical and marketing decisions can be made and brand extended.Aaker (1991) established five components of brand equity; brand loyalty, brand awareness, perceived quality, brand associations and other proprietary brand assets. Figure 1 shows the five dimensions of brand equity. BRAND EQUITY, PERCEIVED VALUE AND REVISIT INTENTIO NS 2 The five dimensions of brand equity affecting value to the customer have the potential to add value for the firm. Brand loyalty is both one of the dimensions of brand equity and is a consequence affected by brand equity. While brand loyalty is an attitudinal concept as one of the components of brand equity, it can also be a behavioral concept adding value to the firm.In this study, just the first four dimensions of Aaker? s brand equity will be adopted because the fifth category representing patents, trademarks, and channel relationships address the firms? asset rather than customer perceptions and reactions to the brand. Thus, it is considered another intangible asset of the firm. This study examines whether the four components of brand equity affect customer value, and finally marketing result which is revisit intent adding value to the firm as a behavioral brand loyalty. Brand equity has been defined by many researchers according to the viewpoints of their studies?.However, there is an agreement among researchers that brand equity is the value added to the product by the brand (Farguahr 1989). From the customers? perspectives marketing effects can be attitudes, awareness, image, and knowledge (Aaker 1991; Keller; 1993; Agarwal& Rao 1996), while from the firms? perspectives, outcomes can be price, revenue, and cash flow (Simon & Sullivan 1993). BRAND EQUITY, PERCEIVED VALUE AND REVISIT INTENTIONS 3 This study assesses the four components of brand equity developed by Aaker (1991).These four components include brand loyalty, perceived quality, brand association and brand awareness. According to Aaker? s definition, brand loyalty is â€Å"a measure of the attachment that a customer has to a brand. It is one of the indicators of brand equity which is demonstrably linked to future profits, since brand loyalty directly translates into future sales† (p. 39). Oliver (1997) defined brand loyalty as the tendency to be loyal to focal brand as a primary choi ce. In this study, overall attitudinal loyalty to a specific hotel brand was measured.The other of three dimensions follow Aaker? s definition. Perceived quality is â€Å"the customer? s perception of the overall quality or superiority of a product or service with respect to its intended purpose, relative to alternatives†. Brand awareness is â€Å"the ability of potential buyers to recognize or recall that a brand is a member of a certain product category. A link between product class and brand is involved†. Finally, Aaker defined brand association as â€Å"anything linked in memory to a brand†. 1. 2 SIGNIFICANCE AND NEED OF THE STUDYThe rapid transition of India to a market economy and being one of the fastest growing nations today it is getting unprecedented attention. Domestic demand for hotels has historically been higher in India a is growing at a healthy rate coupled with an increase in foreign arrivals. Indian hotels are now starting to realize the import ance of brand equity and loyalty seeing their foreign counterparts who are making a beeline for Indian shores. Service and product alone are not able to capture the customer when he has no dearth of options at all price points.Hence the importance of Brand Equity. Krishnan and Harline (2001) mentioned that service brands in the marketing literature received relatively less consideration than their product counterparts even if the service sector has dominated the economy in most advanced countries. While there is no dearth of branding literature on consumer goods yet only few researches have been carried out in the hotel industry. Moreover in the Indian context there are minimal researches. It is in this respect that this research will provide valuable insight.Finally this study will measure brand equity and its relationship with perceived value and revisit intentions across different categories of hotels representing various price points and compare for difference. BRAND EQUITY, PER CEIVED VALUE AND REVISIT INTENTIONS 4 This can test the veracity of the notion that even hotels with small inventory offering basic services at the lower price end can have brand equity more than the higher starred hotels. 1. 3 Objectives of the research The research objectives of this study are three fold : 1. To measure brand equity by adopting Aaker? (1991) four dimensions of brand equity which are brand loyalty, perceived quality, brand association and brand awareness in hotels. 2. To investigate the impact of brand equity on customer perceived value, and revisit intent in the Hotel Industry. 3. To compare the results of this study with a similar study carried out in USA. BRAND EQUITY, PERCEIVED VALUE AND REVISIT INTENTIONS 5 CHAPTER – II LITERATURE REVIEW 2. 1 INTRODUCTION Keller (1993) defines customer-based brand equity as the differential effect of brand knowledge on consumer response to the marketing of the brand.Brand knowledge consists of two dimensions: brand awar eness and brand image. He stated that factors such as awareness of brand, and consumer memory including favorability, strength and uniqueness in which a customer had experienced brands affected brand knowledge. Customer-based brand equity, thus, is enhanced by creating favorable responses to pricing, distribution, advertising, and promotion activity for the brand (See figure 3). BRAND EQUITY, PERCEIVED VALUE AND REVISIT INTENTIONS 6 Aaker (1996) suggests brand equity ten, a specific guideline for measuring brand equity.He groups ten sets of measures into five categories brand loyalty, perceived quality, association, awareness and market behavior measure. The first four categories represent customer perceptions and the fifth expressed the information obtained from the market. He also suggested that all measurement items did not have to be standard across different market segments. He indicated that one should take appropriate modifications according to the characteristics of each ind ustry into consideration when adopting the measurement of this brand equity ten.Table 1 depicts the specific measurement items of each dimension recommended by Aaker. Erdem and Swait (1998) measured the brand equity in an information economics framework which emphasized the role of credibility as the main determinant of consumer-based brand equity. In that framework, consumer-based brand equity is related to negative information as well as positive information such as high quality products, and the reduction in perceived risk and information costs attributable to brands as antecedents of brand equity, which is unlike the psychological approach.In their study, brand is regarded as a signal conveyed by the marketing mix strategies and activities associated with that brand. The information should be credible so that a brand can create value, thus, the market process by which credibility is created is important. Therefore, the consumer? s behavior and the firm? s behavior affect brand v alue as signals of product positions. BRAND EQUITY, PERCEIVED VALUE AND REVISIT INTENTIONS 7 2. 2 MEASUREMENT OF BRAND EQUITY Capon et al. (1994) argued that there were two kinds of brand equities which were organizational brand equity and customer brand equity.He stated that on organizational based brand equity, financial values such as potential earning, market value, replacement cost can be criteria for the measurement of brand equity. On customer base equity, customers? consideration sets, customer based perceived quality, and preference and /or satisfaction can be measured. Thus, the measurement of brand equity can be divided two perspectives which are financial perspectives and customer perspectives. ? Financial Perspectives Based on the financial market value of the firm, Simon and Sullivan (1993) developed a technique estimating a firm? s brand equity.By decomposing the value of intangible asset which is one of the components of market value of the firm along with tangible a sset, brand equity can be estimated. They identified three categories consisting of the value of the intangible assets; a) brand equity, b) technological advantages such as patent and R&D and c) industry structure and the regulatory environment. The following equation is the value of intangible assets of a firm. V I ? (V b1 ? Vb2)? Vnb ? V ind V I value of the firm? s intangible assets V b1 value of the â€Å"demand-enhancing† component of brand equity such as perceived quality Vb2 alue of expected reductions in marketing costs that result from established brand equity Vnb non-brand factors giving rise to cost advantages such as patent and R&D Vind industry structures and regulatory environment Here, Vb1and Vb2 are the value of brand equity determined by the four factors which are current and past advertising, age of brand, order of entry and current and past advertising shares. By using this technique Simon and Sullivan analyzed the brand equity of each BRAND EQUITY, PER CEIVED VALUE AND REVISIT INTENTIONS 8 ndustry. They found that industries which are oriented toward strong consumer products have high brand equity. They also observed the impact of marketing events on brand equity by comparing the values of brand equity of Coca-cola and Pepsi. They discovered that their technique was adequate for measuring the effect of marketing events. Customer Perspectives Kamakura and Russell? s (1993) approach is based on the actual purchase behavior using check-out scanner data to estimate brand value to the customer. Their underlying oncept of measuring brand equity is a consumer choice model in which the perceptions of a brand? s attributes are related both to the characteristics of physical product and to psychosocial cues. On the basis of this conceptual model, they developed a measurement method of brand value, defining brand value (BV) as a measure of the intrinsic utility consisting of brand tangible value (BTA) and brand intangible value (BIV). BV= BI V + BTV BTV represents physical features of the product and BIV is the perceptual distortions and other responses to psychosocial cues which is a measure of the value of intangibles.For estimating this model, they analyzed the household purchase histories in a scanner panel by employing a clusterwise logit model in which customers are segmented for each brand market on the basis of long-run brand preferences and short-run responses to the marketing mix such as the order of entry and advertising. The first step of estimation by regression analysis is specifying the number of preference segmentations of brand by relative size, price and advertising sensitivities and brand values.Identifying a set of relevant physical features and obtaining objective measure of these features and then removing them from the brand value are crucial processes of estimating brand intangible value because of the complexity of analyzing the brand intangible value. To illustrate this methodology, Kamakura an d Russell apply it to the powder laundry detergent category. They found that the order of entry is relevant to creating positive brand intangible value, but large investments of advertising does not positively impact brand intangible value.Lassar et al. (1995), on the basis of Keller? s conceptualizing of brand equity in which consumer-based brand equity occurs when the consumer is familiar with the brand and holds some favorable, strong, and unique brand associations in memory, identified five important elements of brand equity; consumer perception, global value associated with a brand, global value stem from the brand name, relative competition, and financial performance. From these BRAND EQUITY, PERCEIVED VALUE AND REVISIT INTENTIONS 9 ive characteristics, they defined brand equity as the enhancement in the perceived utility and desirability a brand name confers on a product. They developed five underlying dimensions of brand equity which are performance, value, social image, tru stworthiness and commitment/attachment. Blackston (1995) stated that brand equity could be seen as two perspectives which were brand value and brand meaning. He contended that brand meaning influences and creates brand value because value depends on the meaning, changing the brand meaning is equivalent to changing the value of the brand.Brand meaning consists of three dimensions including brand salience, brand association and brand personality. He proposed the brand relationships model in which all three were divided by two dimensions: brand image/brand personality and brand attitude. Thus, by measuring these two dimensions, he suggested that marketers could set their brand strategies. Dyson et al. (1996) proposed a consumer value model (CV) as a starting point for measuring brand equity by which the share value of requirements for each brand for each respondent can be estimated, correlating to consumer loyalty.For underpinning the factors affecting the brand? s consumer loyalty, th e BrandDynamics Pyramid developed by Millward Brown, an institution for evaluating brand equity, was used, and consequently they identified the key elements which discriminated between differing degrees of loyalty. The CV model bridges the gap between consumer and financial equity. The aggregation of the individual respondent consumer value model allows predicting market share, a familiar sales measure with a direct relationship to a brand? revenue stream. Yoo et al. (2000) investigated the relationship between the marketing mix and brand equity. Their proposition of the research stated that the marketing mixes such as price, store image, distribution intensity, advertising spending, and price deals affect each brand equity component including perceived quality, brand loyalty and brand awareness combined with brand association. They also examined how each component of brand equity affected the „overall brand equity? developed by the researchers.They employed a structure equati on model for estimating the parameters of their conceptual model, and consequently found that high price, high advertising spending, good store image, and high distribution intensity are related to high brand equity, whereas frequent price promotions are related to low brand equity. BRAND EQUITY, PERCEIVED VALUE AND REVISIT INTENTIONS 10 2. 3 BRAND EQUITY RESEARCH IN THE SERVICE INDUSTRY Berry (2002) stated that branding plays a special role in service companies because strong brands increase customers? trust of the invisible purchase.However, despite the increasing importance of branding decisions in the services domain, there has been relatively little research in this area. Due to the special characteristics that service possesses such as inseparability, heterogeneity, intangibility, and perishability, an argument that the measurement brand equity in services should be different from physical goods has been rising. Yet, several researchers tried to adopt consumer-based brand equi ty for measuring brand equity in services. Krishnan and Hartline (2001) assessed brand equity in the context of services marketing and compare it to brand equity for goods.They examined three types of services and one type of tangible good for their research according to three attributes that goods and services possesses, which are search, experience, and credence attributes. The result of their study is that brand equity is more important for services than for goods, which is quiet a different view from the traditional literature review. Mackay (2001) applied existing consumer based measures of brand equity to a financial services market. His study is meaningful in that it is the first attempt to adopt the measurement of consumer based brand equity to the services industry.He finds that the measurement is reliable and valid in service marketing, and that the best measurement of brand equity in terms of correlation with market share is brand awareness. Kim and Kim (2004) investigate d the relationship between customer based brand equity and quick service restaurant (QSR) chains? performance. They measured four dimensions of brand equity: brand loyalty, brand awareness, perceived quality and brand image. Through regression analysis they explored the correlation between brand equity and sales revenue.Consequently, they found that brand equity had a positive effect on the performance, especially brand awareness among the four dimensions of brand equity is the most important factor affecting QSR performance. BRAND EQUITY, PERCEIVED VALUE AND REVISIT INTENTIONS 11 2. 4 BRAND EQUITY RESEARCH IN THE HOTEL INDUSTRY Cobb-Walgren et al. (1995) demonstrated how the consumer? s brand perception affects the brand preference and brand choice. In their study, they adapted the familiar hierarchy of effects model as a framework for studying various antecedents and consequences of brand equity from the perspective of the individual consumer.In their study, brand equity was not m easured directly. Consumers form perceptions about the physical and psychological features of a brand from various information sources. These perceptions contribute to the meaning or value that the brand adds to the consumer-i. e. brand equity. Brand equity then influences consumer preferences and purchase intentions, and ultimately brand choice. After comparing Holiday Inn and Howard Johnson, they discovered that the brand with a higher equity generates significantly greater preferences and purchase intentions.Considering customers as the sources of all cash flow and resulting profits, Prasad and Dev (2000) developed a customer-centric index of hotel brand equity. This customer-centric brand equity index was a measure for converting customers? awareness of a brand and their view of a brand? s performance into a numerical index. This was based on: actual customer data on customer satisfaction, intent to return, perception of price-value relationship, brand preference, and top-of-min d awareness of the brand.Kim, Kim, and An (2003) investigated the relationship between brand equity and the firms? financial performance. Based on the dimensions of customer-based brand equity which are brand loyalty, brand awareness, perceived quality and brand image, Kim et al tried to identify BRAND EQUITY, PERCEIVED VALUE AND REVISIT INTENTIONS 12 brand equity? s correlation with financial performance (RevPAR) in the hotel industry. The result revealed that brand equity perceived by the customers can affect generating revenue.Brand equity research in marketing has largely concentrated on a customer-based approach. Keller (1993) mentioned that the customer-based brand equity is more practical for managers in that it provides for them a strategic vision of customer behavior that can be adapted to brand strategy. Yet, Ailawadi et al (2003) insisted that the measuring of customer mindset cannot be objective and that it is difficult to calculate the precise figure because its measure ment is based on consumer surveys. In this study, brand equity measurement from a customer perspective was adopted.Especially, the items Yoo and Donthu (2001) have developed were mainly used because some researchers (Washburn and Plank, 2002) proved its validation. Sun et al. (2008) investigated the impact of customer based brand equity on 6 mid-price hotels in U. S. A. The results indicated that brand loyalty had the least score which they concluded showed that it was most difficult to win loyalty of the customers. Moreover apart from brand loyalty, none of the other dimensions had any effect on revisit intent but perceived value did have an impact on revisit intentions of the customers.BRAND EQUITY, PERCEIVED VALUE AND REVISIT INTENTIONS 13 CHAPTER – III RESEARCH METHODOLOGY 3. 1 CONCEPTUAL MODEL A model of this study has been constructed. In this model, dimensions of brand equity affecting perceived value and revisit intention will be argued. Each of the constructs in the proposed model is described and the theoretical support for the hypothesized relationships is set forth. In this paper, the approach and questionnaire developed by Sun et al. (2008) has been used. In their study, as method of measuring brand equity, four of the five dimensions of Aaker? s brand equity (Aaker 1991) were adopted.Aaker (1991) mentioned that brand equity consists of brand loyalty, brand awareness, perceived quality, brand association and other proprietary brand assets such as patents, trademarks, and channel relationship. However, since the fifth components was not relevant to the consumer perception, only the first four components of brand equity were adopted, and this study takes that approach forward implementing it in the Indian scenario. BRAND EQUITY, PERCEIVED VALUE AND REVISIT INTENTIONS 14 Sun et al. (2008) described the four dimensions of Brand Equity with Perceived Value and Revisit Intentions in the following ways :BRAND LOYALTY Loyalty is a core dimension of brand equity. Aaker (1991) described brand loyalty as â€Å"the attachment that a customer has to brand† (p. 65). A strong form of attachment refers to the resistance to change and the ability of a brand to withstand bad news. Brand loyalty can be seen as two types: attitudinal loyalty and behavioral loyalty. Gounaris et al. (2003) summarized these two types of brand loyalty in which behavioral loyalty refers to repeated purchase and attitudinal loyalty refers to a strong internal disposition towards a brand leading to repeated purchases.Oliver (1997) defined brand loyalty as the tendency to be loyal to focal brands as a primary choice. In their study, overall attitudinal loyalty to a specific hotel brand was measured as a dimension of brand equity and behavioral loyalty which in the hotel industry can be translated into revisit intent. PERCEIVED QUALITY Zeithmal (1988) defined perceived quality as the consumer? s perception of the overall quality or superiority of a product or service with respect to its intended purpose, relative to alternatives.Aaker (1991) mentioned that perceived quality could be considered two different contexts which are product quality and service quality. While product quality consists of seven dimensions: performance, features, conformance with specifications, reliability, durability, serviceability, and fit and finish, service quality dimensions are tangibles, reliability, competence, responsiveness and empathy. Since the hotel industry is one of the important service businesses, in their paper, the measurement of service quality model (SERVQUAL) developed by Parasuraman et al. (1988) was adopted. BRAND AWARENESSBrand awareness is â€Å"the ability for a buyer to recognize or recall that a brand is a member of certain product category† (Aaker 1991, p. 61). Aaker (1996) refers to brand awareness as the strength of a brand? s presence in the customer? s mind. Brand awareness can be measured as a brand recognition or bra nd recall, otherwise both of them. BRAND EQUITY, PERCEIVED VALUE AND REVISIT INTENTIONS 15 In their study, Yoo and Donthu (2001)? s item scale which measures brand recognition was adopted. BRAND ASSOCIATION Aaker (1991) defines brand associations as â€Å"anything linked in memory to a brand† (p. 109).This includes the strength, favorability, and uniqueness of perceived attributes and benefits for the brand. (Keller 1993). On the basis of this concept of brand association, Yoo and Donthu (2001) developed items for measuring brand association. PERCEIVED VALUE Customer value is defined as â€Å"the consumer? s overall assessment of the utility of a product based on the perceptions of what is received and what is given† (Zeithmal, 1988, p. 14). Sweeny et al(1999) interpreted this value as â€Å"the trade off of salient „give? and „get? components† (p. 79). In the same study, they found the positive effect of perceived quality on perceived value.REVISIT INTENTIONS It is the intention to repurchase the product or reuse the service. Washburn & Plank (2002) examined the relationship between different dimensions of brand equity including brand loyalty, perceived quality, brand awareness and brand association and repurchase intention. They found that the correlation between the dimensions of brand equity and repurchase intention is significant. In the study, repurchase intention was modified into revisit intention. 3. 2 HYPOTHESIS The following hypothesis were made to measure the impact of Brand Equity on Perceived Value and Revisit Intention.Hypothesis1: The four dimensions of brand equity positively affect the perceived value of the Hotels. H1a: Brand loyalty will have a positive effect on customers? perceived value . BRAND EQUITY, PERCEIVED VALUE AND REVISIT INTENTIONS 16 H1b: Perceived quality will have a positive effect on a customers? perceived value. H1c: Brand awareness will have a positive effect on a customers? perceived value H1d: Brand association will have a positive effect on a customers? perceived value Hypothesis2: The four dimensions of brand equity positively affect Revisit intention of the hotels H2a: Brand loyalty will have a positive effect on customers? evisit intention H2b: Perceived quality will have a positive effect on customers? revisit intention H2c: Brand awareness will have a positive effect on customers? revisit intention H2d: Brand association will have a positive effect on customers? revisit intention Hypothesis3: Perceived value will have a positive effect on revisit intention of the hotels. Hypothesis4: The perception of the people regarding Brand Equity Dimensions, Perceived Value and Revisit Intention varies across the three segments of the hotels. H4a :The perceptions of the people regarding Brand Loyalty varies across the three segments.H4b :The perceptions of the people regarding Perceive Quality varies across the three segments. H4c :The perceptions of the people regarding Brand Awareness varies across the three segments. H4d :The perceptions of the people regarding Brand Association varies across the three segments. H4e :The perceptions of the people regarding Perceived Value varies across the three segments. H4f : The perceptions of the people regarding Revisit Intent varies across the three segments. Hypothesis5: The perception of the people regarding Brand Equity Dimensions, Perceived Value and Revisit Intention varies with age.BRAND EQUITY, PERCEIVED VALUE AND REVISIT INTENTIONS 17 H5a : The perceptions of the people regarding Brand Loyalty varies with age. H5b :The perceptions of the people regarding Perceive Quality varies with age. H5c :The perceptions of the people regarding Brand Awareness varies with age. H5d :The perceptions of the people regarding Brand Association varies with age. H5e :The perceptions of the people regarding Perceived Value varies with age H5f : The perceptions of the people regarding Revisit Intent varies with age.Hypot hesis6: The perception of the people regarding Brand Equity Dimensions, Perceived Value and Revisit Intention varies with gender. H6a : The perceptions of the people regarding Brand Loyalty varies with gender. H6b :The perceptions of the people regarding Perceive Quality varies with gender. H6c :The perceptions of the people regarding Brand Awareness varies with gender. H6d :The perceptions of the people regarding Brand Association varies with gender. H6e :The perceptions of the people regarding Perceived Value varies with gender. H6f : The perceptions of the people regarding Revisit Intent varies with gender.Hypothesis7: The perception of the people regarding Brand Equity Dimensions, Perceived Value and Revisit Intention varies with Income. H7a : The perceptions of the people regarding Brand Loyalty varies with income. H7b :The perceptions of the people regarding Perceive Quality varies with income. H7c :The perceptions of the people regarding Brand Awareness varies with income. H7 d :The perceptions of the people regarding Brand Association varies with income. H7e :The perceptions of the people regarding Perceived Value varies with income. H7f : The perceptions of the people regarding Revisit Intent varies with income.BRAND EQUITY, PERCEIVED VALUE AND REVISIT INTENTIONS 18 3. 3 SAMPLING : Chandigarh has more than 50 hotels at all price points. The range lies from Hotels having an ARR of just Rs. 600 to a Hotel like Marriott where the present tariff is Rs. 10400 base category room. It was decided to do this research on hotels across various price points and hotel star judgements. Thus price points for a number of hotels were taken and together with the perceptions of 10 respondents regarding their segments. Finally for this study the following 10 hotels were taken, divided into three segments.Upscale: J. W. Marriott, Mount View and Bella Vista. Mid-Price Segment- Amara, Maya Hotel, Western Court Budget – Aroma, The Piccadily, Sunbeam and Himani Residenc y. The sampling method used was Stratified Random of the people visiting these 10 hotels for their stay in Chandigarh. The sample size was estimated to be 225, taking around 20-25 respondents from each of these hotels. The data collection process was carried out over the months of November, December and January and a total of 215 filed questionnaires were collected from these properties. 3. INSTRUMENT DESIGN : A self-administered survey questionnaire was used as the data collection tool, as suggested by Crimp and Wright (1993) that it is a valuable tool that is flexible, fast, accurate and easy to be used in statistical analysis. Miller et al. (2002) believe that a large sample size obtained via questionnaires can provide unbiased statistical results and can be implied as the representatives of the whole population. The questionnaire as mentioned earlier was taken from the one developed by Sun et al. (2008). It consisted of 2 sections.The first statement provided specific statements for each dimension. The items for measuring brand loyalty, perceived quality, brand awareness and brand association followed by perceived value and revisit intent constituted this section. The demographic information was the second section of the questionnaire. The questionnaire had 31 total items. Brand loyalty, perceived quality, brand awareness and brand association are measured on a five point Likert scale, with 1 for â€Å"strongly agree† and 5 for â€Å"strongly BRAND EQUITY, PERCEIVED VALUE AND REVISIT INTENTIONS 19 disagree†.Except perceived quality, all items were modified to a hotel context from the original format of other studies. Parasuraman et al. (1988) developed the SERVQUAL model for measuring service quality in which all items were divided into five dimensions: tangibles, reliability, responsiveness, assurance and empathy. This study will adopt Gabbie and O? Neil (1996)? s tool for measuring hotel service quality. In their study, the first four dimen sions were assessed because the empathy dimension of SERVQUAL was less important and even irrelevant in hotel service quality.Brand loyalty is considered as perceptual/ attititudinal loyalty consisting of one of the components of brand equity. However, as Aaker mentioned (1991), brand loyalty is regarded as both one of the dimensions of brand equity and is affected by brand equity. Therefore, this behavioral loyalty can be used to estimate the consequences of brand equity. 3. 5 PRETESTING : In Churchill? s (1995) term, the pretest, a stage during the questionnaire design process, is usually conducted after the completion of the initial questionnaire, but before the data collection procedure.Its basic objective is to ensure that the structure and language used in the questionnaire are appropriate enough to enable the instrument to actually collect the data required from the target population (Reynolds and Diamantopoulos 1996). Compeau et al. (1995) recommend that a pretest should be conducted prior to the real distribution of the questionnaires in order to find out the deficiencies and validate the instrument. In this study pretesting was done on a convenience sample of 20 respondents. It was observed that the respondents found no ambiguity while filling up of the questionnaire.Moreover the Cronbach alpha calculated for these 20 respondents in SPSS yielded an Apha of 0. 834, which was more than acceptable level of 0. 7. Hence the questionnaire was retained as it is in its current form and used further up for data collection. 3. 6 STATISTICAL TECHNIQUES USED : The research data collected was analyzed using SPSS V. 19 and the following statistical techniques were employed. BRAND EQUITY, PERCEIVED VALUE AND REVISIT INTENTIONS 20 Correlation Analysis The preliminary analysis of the degree of linear association between the variables has been done with the help of correlation.Correlation is a statistical device which helps in analyzing the co variation of two or more variables. Correlation analysis determines the degree of relationship between two or more variables. In other words it? s a technique that is used to measure the closeness of the relationship between two or more variables. The correlation analysis can be broken into two steps: 1. Determining whether a relationship exists and if yes, the measuring it. 2. Testing whether it is significant. There are different methods of measuring of measuring the correlation but the two prominent methods are: 1. Karl Pearson? s coefficient of correlation. . Spearman? s coefficient of correlation. For the purpose of the present study, Karl Pearson? s coefficient of correlation has been used. The following are the general rules for interpreting the value of r: ? ? ? When r = +1, it means there is perfect positive relationship between the variables. When r = -1, it means there is perfect negative relationship between the variables. When r = 0, it means there is no relationship between the variables i. e . the variables are uncorrelated. The closer the value of r is to +1 or -1, the closer the relationship between the variables and the closer r is to 0, the lesser is the relationship.The coefficient of determination i. e. r2 is defined as the ratio of the explained variance to total variance. Coefficient of determination = Explained Variance/ Total Variance BRAND EQUITY, PERCEIVED VALUE AND REVISIT INTENTIONS 21 Regression Analysis Regression analysis focuses on techniques for modeling and analyzing several variables when the focus is on the relationship between a dependent variable and one or more independent variables. More specifically, regression analysis helps understand how the typical value of he dependent variable changes when any one of the independent variables is varied while the other independent variables are held constant. Most commonly, regression analysis estimates the conditional expectation of dependent variable given the independent variables- that is, the average value of the dependent variable when the independent variables are held fixed. The estimation target is a function of the independent variables called the regression function. ANOVA (Analysis of Variance) ANOVA is a statistical technique designed to test whether the means of more than two quantitative populations are equal.It consists of classifying and cross classifying statistical results and testing whether the means of a specified classification differ significantly. BRAND EQUITY, PERCEIVED VALUE AND REVISIT INTENTIONS 22 CHAPTER IV DATA ANALYSIS The hypotheses constructed on the basis of literature review are tested using various techniques in this stage of data analysis. SPSS version 19. 0 was used for analyzing the data by employing various tests that are explained in this Chapter. Before the data analysis begins, the data is first edited and coded.Editing involves checking the data collected through questionnaires for completeness, omissions and legibility. Since the data f orms were self administered, care was taken to get omissions and illegibility in forms simultaneously corrected from the respondents. Despite that in 8 forms it was noticed discrepancy in the nature of some variables not being answered. They were marked 3 signifying a neutral score or undecided one. A lower score for the variables indicated a better positive response and a total of 215 usable questionnaires were obtained from the data collection process. . 1 Demographic Profile of the Respondents Demographics regarding gender, age, income level and the segment of the hotel where they stayed has been shown in this section. Table 4. 1 Gender-wise distribution of respondents Hotel Segment * Gender Crosstabulation Gender Male Hotel Segment Budget 46 Female 34 29 17 80 Total 80 75 60 215 Mid-Price 46 Upscale Total 43 135 BRAND EQUITY, PERCEIVED VALUE AND REVISIT INTENTIONS 23 Chart 4. 1 Bar-graph of the gender wise distribution of respondents An analysis of the table and chart reveals th at a majority, 62. % of the respondents were male and the rest female. Moreover whereas there was almost an equal distribution of males throughout the 3 segments, most of the female respondents were taken from the Budget segment. Table 4. 2 Age-wise distribution of respondents Hotel Segment * Age Crosstabulation Age 54 0 2 2 4 Total 80 75 60 215 Mid-Price 12 Upscale Total 10 50 BRAND EQUITY, PERCEIVED VALUE AND REVISIT INTENTIONS 24 Chart 4. 2 Bar-graph of the age wise distribution of respondents An analysis of the above reveals that a majority of the respondents totaling to 92. 1% were below the age of 44 years.The highest number of the respondents were from the 25-34 year bracket while the lowest, just 4 respondents above the age of 54. Moreover it is noticeable that as the age went higher there were more respondents opting out for Mid-Price and Upscale hotels. Table 4. 3 Income-wise distribution of respondents Hotel Segment * Household income per month Crosstabulation Hotel Segme nt Budget Household income per month 100000 Total 6 21 28 25 80 12 11 44 22 19 69 28 27 80 75 60 215 Total Mid-Price 13 Upscale 3 22 BRAND EQUITY, PERCEIVED VALUE AND REVISIT INTENTIONS 25 Chart 4. 3 Bar-graph of the income wise distribution of respondentsAn analysis of the above reveals that the majority 37. 2% of the respondents had a household income greater than 1 lakh per month while 32. 1% in the 50001-100000 bracket. 20. 5% of the respondents were earning between Rs. 20000-50000 while just 10. 2% below Rs. 20000. Also it is noticeable that with the rise in income there is an increasing number of people preferring Mid-Price and Upscale hotels. Table 4. 4 Segment-wise distribution of respondents Hotel Segment Cumulative Valid Percent Percent 37. 2 34. 9 27. 9 100. 0 37. 2 72. 1 100. 0 Frequency Percent Valid Budget 80 37. 2 34. 9 27. 9 100. 0 Mid-Price 75 Upscale Total 60 215BRAND EQUITY, PERCEIVED VALUE AND REVISIT INTENTIONS 26 Chart 4. 4 Bar-graph of the segment wise distrib ution of respondents Thus, the majority of the respondents were taken from the Budget Segment representing 37. 2 % of the total sample. While 34. 9 % and 27. 9 % were taken from the Mid-Price and Upscale Segments. 4. 2 RECODING Reverse coding is a procedure where some questions in a survey are worded such that high values of a theoretical construct is reflected by high scores on the item, while other questions are worded such that high values of the same construct is reflected by low scores on the item.Reversing the order of the codes for negative statements so that their codes reflect the same direction and order as the positive statements? codes requires a simple transformation which is available in SPSS. The formula for the same is New Value = (Scale minimum + Scale minimum) – Old value The following two questions were recoded : 1. I have difficulty in imagining the hotel in my mind. 2. The price shown for the hotel is unacceptable. Thus these two questions were thereby po sitively stated in SPSS. BRAND EQUITY, PERCEIVED VALUE AND REVISIT INTENTIONS 7 4. 3 RELIABILITY Reliability is the degree to which the measures are free from errors and therefore yield consistent results. Two dimensions underlie the concept of reliability: one is repeatability and the other is internal consistency (Zikmund, 2009). The internal consistency measure is the most preferred one because it requires a single administration and establishing reliability through the other measures is difficult since once a subject has been put through some test, it will no longer remain neutral to the test.Researchers commonly use Cronbach Alpha coefficient, which is an indicator of the internal consistency of the scale, for establishing scale reliability. A high value of Cronbach alpha coefficient suggests that the items that make up the scale measure the same underlying construct. A value of Cronbach alpha above 0. 70 can be used as a reasonable test of scale reliability. Thus Alpha was mea sured for each dimension of the scale separately and then for the whole scale i. e. for the 26 items. Table 4. 5 Cronbach’s Alpha co-efficient of reliability for Brand Loyalty Reliability Statistics Cronbach's Alpha . 17 N of Items 3 The value is acceptable being over 0. 7 and hence Brand Loyalty is internally consistent. Table 4. 6 Cronbach’s Alpha co-efficient of reliability for Perceived Quality Reliability Statistics Cronbach's Alpha . 938 N of Items 12 BRAND EQUITY, PERCEIVED VALUE AND REVISIT INTENTIONS 28 The value for Perceived Quality is over the acceptable level of 0. 7 and hence the items are internally consistent. Table 4. 7 Cronbach’s Alpha co-efficient of reliability for Brand Awareness Reliability Statistics Cronbach's Alpha . 842 N of Items 3 The value for Brand Awareness is over the acceptable level of 0. and hence the items are internally consistent. Table 4. 8 Cronbach’s Alpha co-efficient of reliability for Brand Association Reliabilit y Statistics Cronbach's Alpha . 706 N of Items 3 The value for Brand Association is just over the acceptable level of 0. 7 and hence the items are internally consistent. Table 4. 9 Cronbach’s Alpha co-efficient of reliability for Perceived Value Reliability Statistics Cronbach's Alpha . 731 N of Items 3 The value for Perceived value is over the acceptable level of 0. 7 and hence the items are internally consistent. BRAND EQUITY, PERCEIVED VALUE AND REVISIT INTENTIONS 9 Table 4. 10 Cronbach’s Alpha co-efficient of reliability for Revisit Intention Reliability Statistics Cronbach's Alpha . 857 N of Items 2 The value for revisit intentions is over the acceptable level of 0. 7 and hence the items are internally consistent. Table 4. 11 Cronbach’s Alpha co-efficient of reliability for the Whole Scale Reliability Statistics Cronbach's Alpha . 926 N of Items 26 Thus for all dimensions of the scale the alpha is above the acceptable threshold of 0. 7. In fact the alpha fo r the whole scale signifying a value of 0. 926 is excellent. Moreover it is oticeable that for scales which have fewer items the alpha is comparatively lower. This simply follows from the fact that value of alpha is directly proportional to the number of items on the scale and one of the ways to increase alpha has been to increase the number of items. 4. 4 DESCRIPTIVE STATISTICS Descriptive statistics reveal the mean value and the standard deviation of the variables. They also show the general direction of the variables i. e. towards the positive side or negative side. The following tables first give descriptive statistics of the total 26 items of the scale.In the second part a comparison has been made between the individual dimensions and the 3 segments of the hotels. BRAND EQUITY, PERCEIVED VALUE AND REVISIT INTENTIONS 30 Table 4. 12 Descriptive statistics for Brand Loyalty Descriptive Statistics N Minimum Maximum Mean I consider myself to be loyal to the 215 1 5 2. 37 hotel. The hotel would be my first choice. 215 1 5 2. 27 I will not visit other brands if the 215 1 hotel has no room available. Brand Loyalty Valid N (listwise) 215 1. 00 215 5 3. 48 Std. Deviation 1. 081 1. 038 1. 147 5. 00 2. 7054 .81970 Table 4. 3 Descriptive statistics for Perceived Quality Descriptive Statistics N Minimum Maximum The physical facilities at the 215 1 5 hotel are visually appealing. Staff at the hotel appears neat. 215 1 5 Quality of food /beverage at the hotel satisfies me. When I have problems, the hotel shows a genuine interest in solving them. The hotel performs the service right the first time. The hotel insists on error free service. Staff at the hotel is able to tell patrons exactly when services would be performed. 215 215 1 1 5 5 Mean 2. 18 2. 05 2. 12 2. 20 Std. Deviation . 795 . 853 . 927 1. 002 215 215 215 1 1 1 5 5 5 2. 17 2. 34 2. 6 .991 1. 047 . 949 Staff at the hotel is always 215 willing to help me. Staff at the hotel gives prompt 215 service to me. Staff of the hotel is consistently 215 courteous with me. The behavior of staff at the 215 hotel instills confidence in me. I feel safe in my transaction. Perceived Quality Valid N (listwise) 215 215 215 1 1 1 5 5 5 1. 99 2. 11 1. 98 .962 1. 071 . 927 1 5 2. 36 .994 1 1. 00 5 5. 00 1. 96 2. 1345 .888 . 73543 BRAND EQUITY, PERCEIVED VALUE AND REVISIT INTENTIONS 31 Table 4. 14 Descriptive statistics for Brand Awareness Descriptive Statistics N I know what the hotel? s physical appearance looks like.I am aware of the hotel. I can recognize the hotel among other competing brands. Brand Awareness Valid N (listwise) 215 Minimum Maximum 1 5 Mean 2. 07 Std. Deviation . 783 215 215 1 1 5 5 2. 06 1. 93 .923 . 812 215 215 1. 00 5. 00 2. 0202 .73349 Table 4. 15 Descriptive statistics for Brand Association Descriptive Statistics N Some characteristics of the 215 hotel come to my mind quickly. I can quickly recall the symbol 215 or logo of the hotel. I do not have difficulty 215 imagining the hotel in my mind. Brand Association Valid N (listwise) 215 215 Minimum Maximum 1 4 Mean 2. 13 Std. Deviation . 921 1 1 5 5 . 38 2. 14 .968 1. 351 1. 00 4. 00 2. 2171 .77835 Table 4. 16 Descriptive statistics for Perceived Value Descriptive Statistics N The hotel is good value for money. The price shown for the hotel is acceptable. The hotel appears to be a bargain. Perceived Value Valid N (listwise) 215 215 215 215 215 Minimum Maximum 1 1 1 1. 00 5 5 5 5. 00 Mean 2. 23 2. 48 2. 67 2. 4589 Std. Deviation 1. 023 1. 380 . 990 . 82235 BRAND EQUITY, PERCEIVED VALUE AND REVISIT INTENTIONS 32 Table 4. 17 Descriptive statistics for Revisit Intention Descriptive Statistics I plan to revisit the hotel. N 215 Minimum Maximum Mean 1 5 2. 2 1 5 2. 05 Std. Deviation . 940 . 918 The probability that I 215 would consider revisiting the hotel is high. Revisit Intentions Valid N (listwise) 215 215 1. 00 5. 00 2. 1372 .86926 The following points are noticeable from the above tables. Firstly for the individual variables the best positive score is for the question – â€Å" I can recognize the brand among competing brand† while the most negative score was for the question – â€Å"I will not visit other brands if the hotel has no room available† which actually signifies the urgency of staying in any hotel accommodation if there is no room available in this brand.Secondly in comparison of each of the dimensional score Brand Awareness had the best positive score followed by Perceived Quality, Revisit Intention, Brand Association, Perceived Value and Brand Loyalty in this order. This signified that people? s perception were most positive towards Brand Awareness and the least towards Brand Loyalty. COMPARISON AMONG THE THREE SEGMENTS Now a comparison among the three segments has been shown through the following 3 tables : Table 4. 18 Descriptive statistics for the Budget Category Descriptive Statisticsa Minimum Maximum 1. 00 5. 00 1. 58 5. 00 1. 00 4. 00 1. 00 4. 00 1 . 33 3. 98 1. 00 5. 0 1. 00 5. 00 a. Hotel Segment = Budget BRAND EQUITY, PERCEIVED VALUE AND REVISIT INTENTIONS 33 Brand Loyalty Perceived Quality Brand Awareness Brand Association Brand Equity Perceived Value Revisit Intentions Valid N (listwise) N 80 80 80 80 80 80 80 80 Mean 2. 9500 2. 4969 1. 9958 2. 1833 2. 4065 2. 4833 2. 3438 Std. Deviation . 82694 . 72726 . 64630 . 72702 . 57637 1. 03239 1. 01443 Table 4. 19 Descriptive statistics for the Mid-Price Category Descriptive Statisticsa N Brand Loyalty Perceived Quality Brand Awareness Brand Association Brand Equity Perceived Value Revisit Intentions Valid N (listwise) 75 75 75 75 75 75 75 75 a.Hotel Segment = Mid-Price Minimum 1. 00 1. 00 1. 00 1. 00 1. 25 1. 00 1. 00 Maximum 5. 00 4. 42 5. 00 3. 67 3. 67 5. 00 5. 00 Mean 2. 5333 1. 9833 1. 9956 2. 2533 2. 1914 2. 4889 2. 0333 Std. Deviation . 81833 . 75162 . 75036 . 79003 . 54355 . 73180 . 82746 : Table 4. 20 Descriptive statistics for the Upscale Category Descriptive Statistic sa N Brand Loyalty Perceived Quality Brand Awareness Brand Association Brand Equity Perceived Value Revisit Intentions Valid N (listwise) 60 60 60 60 60 60 60 60 a. Hotel Segment = Upscale Minimum 1. 33 1. 00 1. 00 1. 00 1. 29 1. 00 1. 00 Maximum 4. 33 3. 75 5. 00 3. 67 3. 60 4. 00 3. 50 Mean 2. 944 1. 8403 2. 0833 2. 2167 2. 1837 2. 3889 1. 9917 Std. Deviation . 74179 . 49983 . 82482 . 83885 . 47957 . 58919 . 64105 The above tables have important ramifications. It reveals that for Brand Loyalty the best score is for the Mid-Price and worst for Budget. For Perceived Quality following in the logical order the best score is for Upscale and the least for budget. For Brand Awareness the best score is for the mid-price and the worst surprisingly for the Upscale segment. For Brand Association the best positive score is for the budget and the least for the upscale segment. BRAND EQUITY, PERCEIVED VALUE AND REVISIT INTENTIONS 4 Overall if we notice Brand equity as a sum of these 4 dimension s the best positive score is for the Upscale category with a mean of 2. 1837 followed by Mid-price and then Budget. Moreover for Perceived value surprisingly the perceptions are most positive for Upscale hotels and least for mid-price properties. Lastly the revisit intention is most positive for Upscale hotels and least for Budget Hotels. 4. 5 COMPARISON CORRELATION OF THE THREE SEGMENTS THROUGH Bivariate correlation tests were used to compare the 4 dimensions of brand equity, perceived value and revisit intentions across the three segments.The impact and the importance of variables was studied and compared. Table 4. 21 Correlation for Budget Category Correlationsa Brand Perceived Brand Associatio Perceived Revisit Quality Awareness n Value Intentions . 652** . 489** . 338** . 432** . 652** Brand Loyalty Pearson Correlation Sig. (2-tailed) Brand Loyalty 1 .000 .000 .002 .000 .000 Perceived Quality N Pearson Correlation 80 . 652** 80 1 80 . 500** 80 . 347** 80 . 520** 80 . 818** Sig. (2-tailed) . 000 .000 .002 .000 .000 Brand Awareness N Pearson Correlation 80 . 489** 80 . 500** 80 1 80 . 645** 80 . 401** 80 . 588** Sig. 2-tailed) . 000 .000 .000 .000 .000 N 80 80 80 80 80 80 35 BRAND EQUITY, PERCEIVED VALUE AND REVISIT INTENTIONS Brand Pearson Association Correlation .338** .347** .645** 1 .486** .494** Sig. (2-tailed) . 002 .002 .000 .000 .000 N 80 80 80 80 80 80 Perceived Value Pearson Correlation .432** .520** .401** .486** 1 .631** Sig. (2-tailed) . 000 .000 .000 .000 .000 N 80 80 80 80 80 80 Revisit Intentions Pearson Correlation .652** .818** .588** .494** .631** 1 Sig. (2-tailed) . 000 .000 .000 .000 .000 N 80 80 80 80 80 80 **. Correlation is significant at the 0. 01 level (2-tailed). a.Hotel Segment = Budget This table shows the correlations between the 4 dimensions of brand equity, perceived value and revisit intention for the Budget segment. For Perceived Value the correlation is strongest with Perceived Quality in the Brand Equity domain while with Revisit Intention it is 0. 631 which is the strongest of all components. With respect to revisit intention the strongest correlation has been with perceived quality while the weakest with Brand Association. Moreover all the correlations are positive and significant. BRAND EQUITY, PERCEIVED VALUE AND REVISIT INTENTIONS 6 Table 4. 22 Correlation for Mid-Price Category Correlationsa Brand Perceived Brand Brand Perceived Revisit Loyalty Quality Awareness Association Value Intentions Brand Loyalty Pearson Correlation 1 . 619** . 000 75 1 . 251* . 030 75 . 486** . 000 75 1 -. 035 . 764 75 . 240* . 038 75 . 377** . 001 75 1 . 268* . 020 75 . 416** . 000 75 . 283* . 014 75 . 448** . 000 75 1 . 549** . 000 75 . 707** . 000 75 . 486** . 000 75 . 514** . 000 75 . 508** . 000 75 1 Sig. (2-tailed) N Perceived Pearson Quality Correlation Sig. (2-tailed) N Brand Pearson Awareness Correlation Sig. 2-tailed) N Brand Pearson Association Correlation Sig. (2-tailed) N Perceived Pearson Value Correlati on Sig. (2-tailed) N Revisit Pearson Intentions Correlation 75 . 619** . 000 75 . 251* . 030 75 -. 035 . 764 75 . 268* . 020 75 . 549** 75 . 486** . 000 75 . 240* . 038 75 . 416** . 000 75 . 707** 75 . 377** . 001 75 . 283* . 014 75 . 486** 75 . 448** . 000 75 . 514** 75 . 508** Sig. (2-tailed) . 000 . 000 . 000 . 000 . 000 N 75 75 75 75 75 **. Correlation is significant at the 0. 01 level (2-tailed). *. Correlation is significant at the 0. 05 level (2-tailed). a. Hotel Segment = Mid-Price 75This table shows the correlations between the 4 dimensions of brand equity, perceived value and revisit intention for the Mid-Price segment. For Perceived Value the correlation is strongest with Brand Association in the brand Equity domain while with Revisit Intentions it is 0. 508. With respect to revisit intention the strongest correlation has been with perceived quality while the weakest with Brand Awareness. Moreover apart from the correlation between Brand Awareness and Brand Loyalty all th e correlations are positive and significant. BRAND EQUITY, PERCEIVED VALUE AND REVISIT INTENTIONS 7 Table 4. 23 Correlation for Upscale Category Correlationsa Brand Loyalty Brand Loyalty Pearson Correlation Sig. (2-tailed) Perceived Quality N Pearson Correlation Sig. (2-tailed) N Pearson Correlation Sig. (2-tailed) N Pearson Correlation Sig. (2-tailed) N Pearson Correlation Sig. (2-tailed) N Pearson Correlation Sig. (2-tailed) N 60 . 438** . 000 60 . 173 . 186 60 -. 183 . 161 60 . 100 . 448 60 . 064 . 627 60 1 Perceived Brand Brand Perceived Revisit Quality Awareness Association Value Intentions . 438** . 000 60 1 . 173 . 186 60 . 407** . 001 60 1 -. 183 . 161 60 . 309* . 16 60 . 428** . 001 60 1 . 100 . 448 60 . 378** . 003 60 . 502** . 000 60 . 634** . 000 60 1 . 064 . 627 60 . 329* . 010 60 . 509** . 000 60 . 739** . 000 60 . 652** . 000 60 1 Brand Awareness 60 . 407** . 001 60 . 309* . 016 60 . 378** . 003 60 . 329* . 010 60 Brand Association 60 . 428** . 001 60 . 502** . 000 60 . 509** . 000 60 Perceived Value 60 . 634** . 000 60 . 739** . 000 60 Revisit Intentions 60 . 652** . 000 60 60 **. Correlation is significant at the 0. 01 level (2-tailed). *. Correlation is significant at the 0. 05 level (2-tailed). a. Hotel Segment = UpscaleThis table shows the correlations between the 4 dimensions of brand equity, perceived value and revisit intention for the upscale segment. For Perceived Value the correlation is strongest with Brand Association in the brand Equity domain while with Revisit Intentions it is 0. 652. With respect to revisit intention the strongest correlation has been with Brand Association while the weakest with Brand Loyalty. Moreover the glaring part in this category is that the correlations between Brand Loyalty and Perceived Value and Brand Loyalty and Revisit Intention have not been found to be significant.BRAND EQUITY, PERCEIVED VALUE AND REVISIT INTENTIONS 38 Table 4. 24 Correlation for all the three segments Correlations Brand Loyalty 1 Perceived Brand Brand Perceived Revisit Quality Awareness Association Value Intentions . 618** . 293** . 048 . 306** . 517** . 000 215 1 . 000 215 . 409** . 000 215 1 . 486 215 . 256** . 000 215 . 474** . 000 215 1 . 000 215 . 432** . 000 215 . 362** . 000 215 . 485** . 000 215 1 . 000 215 . 703** . 000 215 . 498** . 000 215 . 527** . 000 215 . 590** . 000 215 1 Brand Loyalty Pearson Correlation Sig. (2-tailed) N Pearson Correlation Sig. 2-tailed) N Pearson Correlation Sig. (2-tailed) N Pearson Correlation Sig. (2-tailed) N Pearson Correlation Sig. (2-tailed) N Pearson Correlation Sig. (2-tailed) N Perceived Quality 215 . 618** . 000 215 . 293** . 000 215 . 048 . 486 215 . 306** . 000 215 . 517** . 000 Brand Awareness 215 . 409** . 000 215 . 256** . 000 215 . 432** . 000 215 . 703** . 000 Brand Association 215 . 474** . 000 215 . 362** . 000 215 . 498** . 000 Perceived Value 215 . 485** . 000 215 . 527** . 000 Revisit Intentions 215 . 590** . 000 215 215 215 215 215 **. Correlation is significant at the 0. 01 level (2-tailed). 215This table shows the correlations between the 4 dimensions of brand equity, perceived value and revisit intentions in the three segments combined that is for the whole sample. For Perceived Value the correlation is strongest with Brand Association followed by perceived quality in the brand Equity domain while with Revisit Intentions it is 0. 590. With respect to revisit intention the strongest correlation has been with Perceived Quality while the weakest with Brand Awareness. Apart from the correlations between Brand Loyalty and Brand Association, rest are significant. BRAND EQUITY, PERCEIVED VALUE AND REVISIT INTENTIONS 9 4. 7 TESTING THE IMPACT OF BRAND EQUITY In this section Regression has been used to study the impact of Brand Equity Dimensions and Perceived Value and Revisit Intentions. In regression the Stepwise Method has been used to stepwise ascertain which all dimensions of Brand Equity have the highest impact and