The Influence of the Marketing Mix on Customers' Loyalty in the Fast Food Restaurants in Upper Egypt: Customers' Satisfaction as a Mediator

The main purpose of this research is to study and thoroughly analyze the influence of the 7Ps of marketing mix on customers' satisfaction (CS), and customers' loyalty (CL) in the fast-food restaurants (FFRs) in Egypt. The data were gathered through a pre-tested self-administrated questionnaire with 410 customers, they are generation Z students from the hotel management department at tourism and hotel faculties and institutes in Upper Egypt to figure out their satisfaction and loyalty to the FFRs due to the performance of the marketing mix (MM) of FFRs. The gathered data was examined using the Partial Least Squares Structural Equation Modeling (PLS-SEM) approach. This study re-examine the validity of the MM model in different contexts, it is the first empirical study in Upper Egypt's FFRs sector. The findings of this research show that high-performance 7Ps not only have a direct effect on CS but also have an indirect effect via CS on CL. The findings suggest that a more efficient management of the MM would make the customers more satisfied and more inclined to repeat the purchases and be loyal to the FFRs services. The results suggested that the prices should be equivalent to a large extent to the quality of service provided. FFRs should offer competitive seasonal promotional rates,