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Events and Tourism Review Vol. 6 (2023), 33-46, DOI: 10.18060/27380                                                                                                  

               Copyright © 2023 M Mansha Tahir 

  This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License. 

 

Events and Tourism Review                                     
 
December 2023                                                                                                                                                     Volume 6  

   

 

Determinants of Restaurant Love: Mediating Role of Restaurant Trust 

 

 
M Mansha Tahir 
 

 
 

Allama Iqbal Open University, Pakistan 

Correspondence: manshatahir75@gmail.com (M. M. Tahir) 

 

 
 

 

 

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Recommended Citation 

Tahir, M. M. (2023). Determinants of Restaurant Love: Mediating Role of Restaurant Trust. 

Events and Tourism Review, 6, 33-46.  
 

 

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Tahir, M. M.. (2023) / Events and Tourism Review, 6, 33-46. 
34 

Events and Tourism Review Vol. 6 (2023), 33-46, DOI: 10.18060/27380                                                                                                  

               Copyright © 2023 M Mansha Tahir 

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International 

License. 

 

 

 
 

 

 

Abstract 

 

This research paper examines the influences of restaurant reputation, restaurant experience, and 

restaurant trust on restaurant love where restaurant trust is used as mediator. Majority (53%) of the 

365 respondents were male. Respondents’ data were collected with closed-end questionnaire and 

random sampling technique was followed while selecting the respondents. The researcher used 

SPSS and AMOS to analyze the collected data. The data analysis shows that restaurant reputation 

and restaurant experience positively influence the restaurant trust and restaurant love and trust 

mediates between the relationships of reputation and love as well as between the relationship of 

experience and restaurant love. This research has, implications, limitations, discussed in the last 

section.    

 

Keywords: Restaurant Love; Restaurant Reputation; Restaurant Experience; Restaurant Trust; 

Schema Theory 
 

 

 

Introduction 

 

Restaurants, food points, hotels, and other segments of hospitality and tourism industry are 

striving to attract and retain customers. Businesses do their best to improve their image/ reputation 

and service quality. It can be helpful in retaining existing customers as well as bringing new 

customers. People tend to revisit their loved places and brands. Various factors contribute towards 

this love which is the focus of the present research. This study investigates the impact of reputation, 

experience, and trust on brand love as a social psychology concept. 

Brand love is, “the degree of passionate emotional attachment a satisfied consumer has for a 

particular trade name” (Carroll & Ahuvia, 2006, p.3). Triangular theory of love (Sternberg, 1986) 

provided foundations for researchers to study the concept of love in social psychology. Further work 

by researchers (Shimp & Madden, 1988) and an empirical study (Ahuvia, 1994) contributed towards 

this theory. Passion or love was termed as an important dimension of brand relationship quality 

(Fournier, 1998). Brand or brand name plays a significant role in success or failure of the business.  

Brand love has significant influence on customers’ decisions regarding purchase, repurchase 

and recommendations of products and services (Drennan et al., 2015; Song et al., 2019; Vlachos & 

Vrechopoulos, 2012). Restaurants focus on customer relationship as a competitive advantage and 

business forecasts (Song et al., 2022). Brand love is crucial in this brand-customer relationship 

because brand love represents a psychological connection and affection between customer and a 

particular brand (Han et al., 2022). Brand is an important antecedent of customer relationship which 

plays key role in the success of business (Yun & Kim, 2021).  

 

Purpose of the Study 

Research on brand love is very important because of the importance of brand love as discussed 

above. Purpose of the study is to investigate the determinants of brand love. The present study 

introduces research model comprising of restaurant reputation, experience, trust and love. Model 

depicts the direct influences of determinants of restaurant brand love. Trust is shown as mediator in 

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Tahir, M. M.. (2023) / Events and Tourism Review, 6, 33-46. 
35 

Events and Tourism Review Vol. 6 (2023), 33-46, DOI: 10.18060/27380                                                                                                  

               Copyright © 2023 M Mansha Tahir 

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International 

License. 

 

 

brand reputation-love and brand experience- love relationships.    

 

Research questions 

This study has the following research questions: 

1) What is the impact of restaurant reputation on restaurant love?  

2) What is the impact of restaurant reputation on restaurant trust? 

3)  What is the impact of restaurant experience on restaurant trust? 

4) What is the impact of restaurant experience on restaurant love?  

5) What is the impact of restaurant trust on restaurant love?  

6) How restaurant trust mediates between restaurant reputation and restaurant love?  

7) How restaurant trust mediates between restaurant experience and restaurant love?  

 

Literature Review 

 

Restaurant Reputation, Restaurant Love and Restaurant Trust 

Reputation is a valuable resource of firms (Barney, 1991), which is a collective assessment of 

firm by its stakeholders (Barnett et al., 2006; Fombrun, 1996).  Customers have impressions and 

beliefs regarding a product or service. Such impressions, beliefs, ideas and perceptions are called 

reputation (Ryu et al., 2012). Brand reputation plays key role in customer satisfaction and retention. 

Good reputation leads to brand success. According to Herbig and Milewicz (1995), brands with good 

reputation are successful and earn their market share by making profits. Businesses including 

restaurants do their best to establish and maintain good reputation to keep their customers satisfied 

and loyal. According to Veloutsou and Moutinho (2009) reputation is characteristics of brand as 

perceived by stakeholders and “the development of brand reputation means more than keeping 

customers satisfied, it is something a company earns over time and refers to how various audiences 

evaluate the brand” (p. 315). Reputation has significant impact on attitudes toward products and 

services (Brown, 1995) and purchase intentions (Yoon et al., 1993). Brand love is customers’ attitude 

towards the brand (Rubin, 1973). Based on this discussion, the present research assumes that 

restaurant brand reputation has positive relationship with restaurant brand love and establishes the 

following hypothesis: 

H1: Restaurant reputation has positive relationship with restaurant love. 

Corporate reputation having strategic value (Raithel & Schwaiger, 2015), positively influences 

trust, customer satisfaction and loyalty (Sung & Yang, 2008; Walsh et al., 2009). Trust is a significant 

determinant of buying behaviors in restaurants (Bredahl, 2001).  Positive brand reputation indicates 

low risk level, reduces uncertainty, enhances trust, and influences buying decisions of customers 

(Sˇmaizˇiene˙, 2008). Trust plays key role in establishing and maintaining good relationship between 

businesses and customers (Elliott & Yannopoulou, 2007). Restaurant industry is a service industry 

where customers may be uncertain about services, quality of food and other issues such hygiene and 

safety measures. Cretu and Brodie (2007) argue that reputation has more important role to play in 

restaurant industry. Consumer trust is crucial in building and maintaining relationships in hotel 

(Lovell, 2009) and restaurant (Oh, 2002) industry. Reputatin enhances trust in service quality (Herbig 

& Milewicz, 1995) and studies confirm positive impact of brand reputation on brand trust (Suh & 

Houston, 2010; Torres- Moraga et al., 2010). So, this study establishes the hypothesis as: 

H2: Restaurant reputation has positive relationship with restaurant trust. 

 

Restaurant Experience, Restaurant Trust and Restaurant Love 

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Tahir, M. M.. (2023) / Events and Tourism Review, 6, 33-46. 
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Events and Tourism Review Vol. 6 (2023), 33-46, DOI: 10.18060/27380                                                                                                  

               Copyright © 2023 M Mansha Tahir 

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International 

License. 

 

 

Consumers seek information and knowledge of brand through experiences which shape their 

beliefs and feelings. These feelings and beliefs build and enhance their attitudes towards the brands 

(Wright, 2006). Positive brand experience is among the factors of brand attachment and brand trust. 

Studies regarding fashion brands (Dolbec & Chebat, 2013) and hotel brands (Kang et al., 2017) show 

that brand attachment is enhanced by brand experience. Researchers (Alloza, 2008; Klein et al., 2016) 

defined brand experience as responses from consumer-brand interaction and these responses last for 

long period of time (Brakus et al., 2009; Roswinanto & Strutton, 2014). In restaurant industry, 

consumers/ customers respond to their consumption experiences and perceive restaurant brand as 

good or bad. As a rule of thumb, good restaurant experiences imprint good image and poor experiences 

imprint poor image in minds of customers. In other words, experiences leave impressions in minds of 

customers.  

Researchers (Chen-Yu et al., 2016), through the lens of Schema Theory (Bartless, 1932), see 

brand experience as formation of impressions.  Schema theory, “describes how people perceive 

new experiences by activating the mental schema stored in their memory” (Chen-Yu et al., 2016 p.5). 

Memory schema (previous experience of brand/s) influence future purchase decisions (Alba & 

Hasher, 1983). Customers gain brand’s understanding through brand experiences which enhances 

their brand trust (Lau & Lee, 1999). Research show that brand experience has significant relationship 

with brand trust (Sharifi & Esfidani, 2014; Weisberg et al., 2011). Therefore, hypothesis H3 was 

proposed as under: 

H3: Restaurant experience has positive relationship with restaurant trust. 

According to Verhoef et al. (2009) brand experience creates customer loyalty. Restaurant 

experience can be either direct or indirect. Buying and consuming food or enjoying services give 

direct experience whereas advertisement and marketing provide indirect experience (Brakus et al., 

2009). Various qualitative studies show that brand experience and brand love are interrelated (Bagozzi 

et al., 2017). Previous research shows the significant contribution of brand experience in creation of 

brand love (Bicakcioglu et al., 2018; Garg et al., 2016; Huang, 2017; Sarkar et al., 2019). As a result 

of the above mentioned research findings, the present research posits the following hypothesis: 

H4: Restaurant experience has positive relationship with restaurant love. 

 

Restaurant Trust and Restaurant Love 

Brand experience builds brand trust which ultimately results in brand attachment (Langner & 

Seidel, 2015). Brand trust can be defined as consumers’ faith in brand performance (Albert & 

Merunka, 2013). Brand trust is a positive and affective brand experience by consumers (Esch et al., 

2006), and is linked to altruism, brand honesty, reliability and love (Albert & Merunka, 2013). 

Research findings show that strong brand trust is result of customer satisfaction (Delgado-Ballester & 

Munuera-Aleman, 2001). Trust promotes commitment, loyalty and positive attitude towards brand 

(Knox & Walker, 2001) and contributes to brand love (Drennan et al., 2015).  Trust has strong 

relationship with intimacy and love (Larzelere & Huston, 1980) and brand love and emotions 

(Kaufmann et al., 2016). Further, research findings suggest that trust is an antecedent of long-term 

relationships (Matzler et al., 2008). So, it is believed that brand trust has positive impact on brand 

love and following relationship is hypothesized:  

H5: Restaurant trust has positive relationship with restaurant love. 

 

Mediating Role of Brand Trust 

The present research investigates the mediating impact of brand trust between relationship of 

brand reputation and brand trust. It also studies the mediating role of brand trust in relationship of 

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Tahir, M. M.. (2023) / Events and Tourism Review, 6, 33-46. 
37 

Events and Tourism Review Vol. 6 (2023), 33-46, DOI: 10.18060/27380                                                                                                  

               Copyright © 2023 M Mansha Tahir 

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International 

License. 

 

 

brand experience and brand love. Brand image (brand reputation in the present study) has significant 

impact on brand trust (Flavian et al., 2005; Ladhari & Michaude, 2015; Lin et al., 2017; Sallam, 2016) 

and enhances (Chen, 2010). Research shows that brand experiences build trust which develops 

attachment (Park et al., 2006; Silva & Alwi, 2006). Brand experience also provides satisfaction and 

value for consumers (Brakus et al., 2009). Satisfied customers tend to stay with the brand (Berry et 

al., 2002; Heinrich et al., 2008). Studies show that brand trust is built by brand experience/s 

(Francisco-Maffezzolli et al., 2014). Brand trust creates positive emotional attachment (Frasquet et 

al., 2017; Louis & Lombart, 2010; Vlachos et al., 2010). Based on these findings, following 

hypotheses are established:  

H6: Restaurant trust mediates the relationship between restaurant reputation and restaurant 

love. 

H7: Restaurant trust mediates the relationship between restaurant experience and restaurant 

love. 

 

Research Model 

Based on literature review and established hypotheses, following is the proposed research 

model: 

 

 

 
Methodology 

 

Data for the present research were collected from customers of the restaurants in Rahim Yar 

Khan district of Punjab province of Pakistan. The data were collected during the months of January 

and February 2023. The customers aged over 18 years were randomly selected as the participants of 

this study. This Simple Random Sampling provided equal opportunities to all customers for being 

selected. The participants were requested to fill the printed questionnaires. The researcher collected 

365 questionnaires. First 40 questionnaires were used in pilot study which showed satisfactory 

reliability (Cronbach's alpha) values between 0.825 and 0.903. After these satisfactory findings, 

further data were collected. 

The present research used questionnaire with close-end questions. The questionnaire contains 

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Tahir, M. M.. (2023) / Events and Tourism Review, 6, 33-46. 
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Events and Tourism Review Vol. 6 (2023), 33-46, DOI: 10.18060/27380                                                                                                  

               Copyright © 2023 M Mansha Tahir 

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International 

License. 

 

 

the five-point Likert scale with (1= Strongly Disagree, 2= Disagree, 3= Neutral-Neither agree nor 

disagree, 4= Agree, and 5= Strongly Agree). Questionnaire comprises of measurement items adapted 

from previous studies which are presented in Table 1.  

 

Table 1. Measures  
Code Construct Item Source 

Restaurant Reputation (ResR) 

ResR_1 This restaurant is trustworthy. Han et al. (2015) 

ResR_2 This restaurant brand is reputable. 

ResR_3 My friends highly appreciate this restaurant brand.  Song et al. (2019) 

ResR_4 This restaurant is popular with people. 

Restaurant Experience (ResE) 

ResE_1 I feel good when I experience this restaurant brand. Kim et al. (2018) 

ResE_2 This restaurant brand gives me pleasure. 

ResE_3 It is fun to experience this restaurant brand. 

ResE_4 Experiencing this restaurant brand is enjoyable. 

Restaurant Trust (ResT) 

ResT_1 I think this restaurant brand is trustworthy. Kim et al. (2018) 

ResT_2 I think this restaurant brand is competent.  

ResT_3 I think this restaurant brand is honest. 

ResT_4 I have confident in the quality of this restaurant brand. 

Restaurant Love (ResL) 

ResL_1 This is a wonderful restaurant. Carroll & Ahuvia (2006) 

and Shen et al. (2021) ResL_2 This restaurant brand makes me feel good. 

ResL_3 This restaurant brand is totally awesome. 

ResL_4 I love this restaurant. 

ResL_5 I am very passionate about this restaurant brand. 

 

The researcher used Statistical Package for the Social Sciences (SPSS), V.19 and Analysis of 

Moment Structures (AMOS), V.21 to analyze the data. The relevant results or research findings are 

discussed under Results section. 

 

Results  

 

Respondents’ Profile 

Table 2 shows summary of descriptive statistics of the respondents (age, education and gender). 

In age category, most of the respondents 151 (41.30%) fall in 26 to 33 years’ age group, followed by 

34 to 41 age group which is 132 (36.20%) respondents. Most of the respondents are with masters or 

higher education. Female respondents are slightly less than male respondents.    

   

Table 2. Demographic Characteristics of Respondents 

 
Respondents’ 

Characteristics 

Category Frequency Percent 

Age 18 - 25 40 11.0 

 26 - 33 151 41.3 

 34 - 41 132 36.2 

 42 - 49 25 6.8 

 50 and above 17 4.7 

 Total 365 100.0 

Education Intermediate 55 15.1 

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Tahir, M. M.. (2023) / Events and Tourism Review, 6, 33-46. 
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Events and Tourism Review Vol. 6 (2023), 33-46, DOI: 10.18060/27380                                                                                                  

               Copyright © 2023 M Mansha Tahir 

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License. 

 

 

 Graduation 141 38.6 

 Masters and above 169 46.3 

 Total 365 100.0 

Gender Female 170 46.6 

 Male 195 53.4 

 Total 365 100.0 

 

Data Reliability and Validity 

Reliability and validity tests show satisfactory results. Reliability of the data was assessed with 

values of Cronbach’s alpha. All alpha values are above 0.70 and are satisfactory (Hair et al., 2010; 

Kline, 2016; Nunnally, 1978). Values of Average Variance Extracted (AVE) were above 0.50 and are 

acceptable (Hair et al., 2010; Nunnally, 1978). AVE and factor loadings were calculated to assess the 

convergent validity (Fornell & Larcker, 1981). Values of composite reliability (CR) were also 

acceptable as these are above 0.70 (Hair et al., 2012). Values of Cronbach’s alpha, AVE, factor 

loading and composite reliability are given in table 3. Discriminant validity is ascertained by 

comparing square root of AVE with correlations between two constructs. Discriminant validity results 

are satisfactory as values of square root of AVE are greater than inter-construct correlations (Fornell 

& Larcker, 1981; Hair et al., 1998; Park et al., 2014). These findings are shown in table 4.  

Results of hypothesized measurement model (using AMOS-V.21) are also satisfactory 

because model fit indices fits the data well. These values were as:  χ²/d =3.814, GFI=0.950, 

CFI=0.909, NFI=0.908, TLI=0.817, RMSEA=0.339. 

 

Table 3.  Reliability and Convergent Validity 
Construct M SD Cronbach’s α FL CR AVE 

ResR   0.871  0.719 0.691 

ResR_1 3.52 0.918  0.725   

ResR_2 3.53 0.939  0.773   

ResR_3 3.53 0.875  0.737   

ResR_4 3.45 0.896  0.805   

ResE   0.928  0.763 0.783 

ResE_1 3.17 1.098  0.791   

ResE_2 3.08 1.021  0.803   

ResE_3 3.01 1.081  0.718   

ResE_4 3.12 1.094  0.781   

ResT   0.929  0.734 0.704 

ResT_1 3.35 1.094  0.844   

ResT_2 3.38 1.059  0.825   

ResT_3 3.32 1.099  0.783   

ResT_4 3.37 1.118  0.847   

ResL   0.879  0.792 0.732 

ResL_1 3.34 1.093  0.810   

ResL_2 3.32 1.072  0.814   

ResL_3 3.46 1.059  0.823   

ResL_4 3.41 1.060  0.796   

ResL_5 3.38 1.076  0.819 0.739 0.738 

Note: ResR = Restaurant Reputation, ResE = Restaurant Experience, ResT= Restaurant Trust, ResL= Restaurant Love. 

Values represented at significance of p < 0.05. 

 

Table 4. Discriminant Validity Analysis 
Construct M SD ResR ResE ResT ResL 

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Tahir, M. M.. (2023) / Events and Tourism Review, 6, 33-46. 
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Events and Tourism Review Vol. 6 (2023), 33-46, DOI: 10.18060/27380                                                                                                  

               Copyright © 2023 M Mansha Tahir 

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International 

License. 

 

 

Restaurant 

Reputation 

(ResR) 

3.51 0.766 1    

Restaurant 

Experience 

(ResE) 

3.10 0.975 0.326** 1   

Restaurant 

Trust 

(ResT) 

3.36 0.999 0.339** 0.402** 1  

Restaurant 

Love 

(ResL) 

3.38 0.822 0.255** 0.336** 0.763** 1 

**. Correlation is significant at the 0.01 level (2-tailed). a. Listwise N=365 

 

Hypotheses Testing 

Relationships among variables were checked with AMOS using structural equation modeling 

(SEM) technique. Data analysis shows positive significant direct relationships among variables. It 

indicates that all hypotheses relevant to direct relationships are supported. Results are summarized in 

Table 5 as under.   

    

Table 5. Summary of Relationships of Independent and Dependent Variables 
Hypothesis Structural Path Beta Values 

(β) 

R-Square 

(R2) 

Significance (p< 

0.01) 

  Result  

H1 ResR        ResL 0.41  0.000 Supported 

H2 ResR      ResT 0.36  0.000 Supported 

H3 ResE      ResT 0.57  0.000 Supported 

H4 ResE            ResL 0.33  0.000 Supported 

H5 ResT            ResL 0.62  0.000 Supported 

ResT Direct relationship  0.72   

ResL Direct  relationship  0.52   

Note: ResR = Restaurant Reputation, ResE = Restaurant Experience, ResT= Restaurant Trust, ResL= Restaurant Love. Values 

represented at significance of p < 0.01. 

 

Standardized path coefficients (β) values show significant impact of independent variables on 

relevant dependent variable. All hypotheses are supported (p < 0.01). Restaurant brand reputation 

(ResR) and brand experience (ResE) bring 72% variation in restaurant brand trust (ResT) as its shows 

R-square (R2) value of 0.72. There is 52% variation in restaurant brand love due to restaurant trust as 

relevant R-square (R2) value is 0.52.  

Mediation Analysis 

The researcher used SPSS PROCESS macro (5000 bootstrap) with probe interactions (p≤ 

0.01) and 95 percent confidence interval, to test mediation of restaurant brand trust in relationships; 

(a) between restaurant reputation and restaurant love, (b) between restaurant experience and restaurant 

love. These results are summarized in table 6.   

  

 

 

 

Table 6. Summary of Mediation Results 
Hypothesis Structural Path Estimate Lower  Upper Significance    Result  

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Tahir, M. M.. (2023) / Events and Tourism Review, 6, 33-46. 
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Events and Tourism Review Vol. 6 (2023), 33-46, DOI: 10.18060/27380                                                                                                  

               Copyright © 2023 M Mansha Tahir 

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License. 

 

 

Bound Bound (p< 0.01) 

H6 ResR            ResT        ResL        0.763 0.187 0.375 0.000 Supported 

H7 ResE            ResT        ResL 0.587 0.184       0.324 0.000 Supported 

ResR = Restaurant Reputation, ResE = Restaurant Experience, ResT= Restaurant Trust, ResL= Restaurant Love.  

 

Results of mediation analysis show that trust fully mediates between both relationships. So, 

H6 and H7 are accepted. 

Discussion and Conclusion 

 

The present research explored the impacts of restaurant brand reputation and restaurant brand 

experience, on brand trust and brand love. It also studied the relationship between restaurant brand 

trust and restaurant brand love. The present study fills this gap to the date. Positive and significant 

impact of restaurant reputation on restaurant love and restaurant trust suggests that restaurant 

customers are conscious to brand reputation which builds their trust on, and love for restaurant/s. 

These findings are in accordance with the previous studies in respect that good reputation leads to 

brand love (Breckler, 1984). Brand experience has significant positive impact on restaurant trust and 

restaurant love. It suggests that positive restaurant experience of consumers emotionally attach them 

with the restaurant, builds trust and love for that restaurant. Previous studies show positive 

relationship of brand experience and brand love (Brakus et al., 2009; Oliver et al., 1997; Wallace et 

al., 2014). Brand experience leads to trust on brand (Sharifi & Esfidani, 2014). The present study 

validates these findings. Positive influence of restaurant brand trust on restaurant love is also in 

accordance with the previous studies (Albert & Merunka, 2013; Drennan et al., 2015; Kaufmann et 

al., 2016). This study has theoretical and practical implications as well. 

 

Theoretical Implications 

Data analysis showed positive relationship of experience, reputation, trust and love of 

restaurant. Restaurant experience of customers and reputation of restaurant have positive influence on 

restaurant trust and restaurant love. Restaurant trust also mediates in relationships of reputation, 

experience and love for restaurant. This study has significant theoretical contributions by providing 

model for determinants (reputation and experience) of restaurant brand trust and brand love. This 

research enriches the body of knowledge in fields of reputation, experience, trust and love of 

restaurants. Reputation of restaurant helps in maintaining a long-term relationship between customers 

and the restaurant. Personal experience of customers also builds their trust on the restaurant. 

Restaurant trust leads to love for restaurant and customers tent to visit such restaurants in future. It 

also provides insights for future use of this model in the light of Schema theory.  

 

Practical Implications 

Restaurants can attract and retain customers by improving reputation and trust of customers in 

their restaurants. To do so, they should focus on strategies to improve their reputation. They should 

also struggle to provide better quality products, services and environment for their customers. Good 

service features of restaurants lead to customer loyalty (Tahir, 2022). So, it is very important for 

restaurants that they provide high-quality goods and services to their customers. When customers 

experience such products and services, they have more trust in restaurant which leads to love for 

restaurant. Customers tend to buy more frequently from their trusted restaurants. Restaurants should 

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Tahir, M. M.. (2023) / Events and Tourism Review, 6, 33-46. 
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Events and Tourism Review Vol. 6 (2023), 33-46, DOI: 10.18060/27380                                                                                                  

               Copyright © 2023 M Mansha Tahir 

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International 

License. 

 

 

try to provide good and positive experiences to restaurant customers. Restaurants should focus on the 

reputation of their restaurants. These efforts can attract new customers as well as retain the existing 

customers. Good reputation and experience can be competitive advantage of the restaurant/s and can 

enhance trust, loyalty and love from customers. Trust on restaurant significantly mediates in 

relationships of restaurant reputation and experience, and restaurant love. Restaurants should 

recognize and regard the customers who have trust on the restaurant.  

 

Limitations and Future Research 

This study has a number of limitations. Statistical data analysis shows the significant positive 

relationships between variables, but these results cannot be generalized because data were collected 

from one district only. Future studies can address this issue by covering larger geographical areas. 

Construct items for the questionnaire were selected and adapted to meet the needs of respondents. 

Restaurant brand experience includes few items from previous studies whereas experience has many 

dimensions with separate measurement items.  Brand experience has dimensions such as affective, 

behavioral, intellectual, and sensory Brakus et al. (2009). Individual impact of these experience 

dimensions with the relevant measurement items can be studied in future research. The present 

research introduced research model, but it was used in cross-sectional study. Future research can use 

this model in longitudinal studies. The present research referred to Schema theory while studying the 

relationships of variables. It just investigated the impact of independent variables. Future studies 

should focus on phenomenon of creation of brand trust and brand love through the lens of Schema 

theory. The present research included age, education and gender of participants. Future studies can 

include other demographic characteristics such as income and marital status of the participants. Data 

were collected from restaurants only and future studies can consider food points, food stalls and other 

forms of food kiosks. 

  

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