Date: May 30, 2011 Program: MIMA- International Marketing Course Name: Master Thesis (EFO705) Title: The Study of Consumer’s Post-Purchase Evaluation toward Brand Equity of Five Stars Hotels in Thailand Research Problem: What are the characteristics of brand equity of five star luxury hotels in Thailand and which components of brand equity are the majority concerns from customers’ evaluation? Purpose: The study aims to investigate and analyze the interrelationship of brand equity of five stars hotels in Bangkok, Thailand and post-purchase evaluation in order to provide valuable information on how five stars luxury hotels in Thailand can successfully and appropriately exploit the hotel brand equity so as to create the branding strategy and to create a competitive advantage in the long run. Method: Qualitative approach was used to observe the data in the form of content analysis. While, the quantitative approach is employed in order to summarize the finding result. The data collection, the secondary source is the heart of this research such as hotel reviews, brand equity books and related articles. Conclusion: The empirical findings from hotel guest’s post-purchase evaluation reveal the most significant components of brand equity for five stars Thai hotel industry which are perceived quality and brand loyalty. Whereas, brand awareness and brand association are considered the least significant of all brand equity components from customer’s perception. Keywords: Brand equity, Brand loyalty, Brand awareness, Perceived quality, Brand association, Five Stars Hotel in Thailand, Thai Hotels Industry

Service quality occurs in service encounters where both customers and employees come together in an interaction. It is therefore important that the staff give their best because the interaction usually takes place in real time, which is referred to as the moment of truth. The aim of this study was to find out how luxury hotels are working to ensure good service quality, and how the staff are motivated to deliver this service. We wanted to examine this from a management perspective, and an employee perspective. Information was gathered through various interviews, where the staff at the Hotel Kämp in Helsinki and at the Sheraton Hotel Stockholm participated. Survey results show that employee motivation, training and empowerment have a significant impact to provide service in high quality. The results also show that the surveyed hotel, to certain level work in the same way, but it reveals some differences even when both hotels are part of the same concern. / Servicekvalitet uppstår i servicemöten där både kunden och anställda möts i en interaktion. Det är därför viktigt att personalen ger sitt bästa då mötet oftast sker i realtid, vilket benämns som sanningens ögonblick. Syftet med vår studie var att ta reda på hur lyxhotell arbetar för att kunna garantera en bra servicekvalitet och hur de anställda motiveras för att leverera denna service. Detta ville vi undersöka utifrån ett ledningsperspektiv samt ett personalperspektiv. Information samlades in genom olika kvalitativa intervjuer, där personalen på Hotel Kämp i Helsingfors och på Sheraton Hotel i Stockholm deltog. Undersökningens resultatet visar att personalens motivering, utbildning och empowerment har en betydande påverkan för att kunna leverera service i hög kvalité. Resultatet visar också att de undersökta hotellen till viss nivå arbetar på samma sätt, men det framkommer vissa skillnader, även då båda hotellen ingår under samma koncern.