Customer Engagement and Brand Performance in the Nigerian Fast-Food Industry: An Analytical Investigation

This study analytically investigates the relationship between customer engagement and brand performance in the Nigerian fast-food industry, drawing data from consumers and brand managers in Port Harcourt, South South Nigeria, and Ibadan, South West Nigeria. Customer engagement, encompassing cognitive, emotional, and behavioural dimensions of consumer-brand interaction, has emerged as a central concept in services marketing and brand management. In the Nigerian fast-food sector, where competition between domestic chains (Chicken Republic, Tastee Fried Chicken, Kilimanjaro) and international brands (KFC, Domino's) is intensifying, customer engagement may represent a significant and measurable source of brand performance differentiation. Grounded in the customer engagement theory and the service-profit chain model, the study operationalises engagement dimensions across cognitive involvement, emotional attachment, and brand advocacy behaviours, testing their effects on brand performance metrics including market share, repeat patronage, and revenue growth. A cross-sectional mixed-method design is adopted, with 350 consumers and 60 brand managers participating through questionnaires and interviews respectively. SEM is employed for consumer data, and thematic analysis for manager interview responses. Preliminary findings indicate that emotional attachment and brand advocacy are the strongest engagement predictors of brand performance, while cognitive involvement shows significant indirect effects. The study contributes to the fast-food marketing literature in West Africa and provides brand managers with a validated engagement framework for performance management. Keywords: customer engagement, brand performance, fast-food, Nigeria, services marketing