Academy of Strategic Management Journal Volume 17, Issue 4, 2018 1 1939-6104-17-4-252 BRAND LOYALTY AND DETERMINATES OF PERCEIVED QUALITY AND WILLINGNESS TO ORDER Mohammad Falahat, Universiti Tunku Abdul Rahman Chong Shyue Chuan, Universiti Tunku Abdul Rahman Sia Bik Kai, Universiti Tunku Abdul Rahman ABSTRACT The purpose of this paper is to examine the determinants of brand loyalty and the factors associated with perceived quality and willingness to order in the context of hardware retailers in Malaysia. In today’s competitive environment, brand loyalty is essential in gaining competitive advantage among hardware retailers. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first study of its kind in Malaysia to examine brand loyalty among hardware retailers in Malaysia. Face-to-face surveys are conducted with 300 hardware retailers using a quota sampling across the 13 local government areas within the Klang Valley. The proposed hypotheses are tested using Structural Equation Modelling (SEM). The result shows that brand loyalty is strongly associated with perceived quality and willingness to order. Our findings also revealed that perceive quality is fully mediates price, advertising and distribution image toward retailers’ willingness to order. Moreover, brand association is a strong determinant of perceived quality and willingness to order. Keywords: Brand Association, Brand Loyalty, Hardware Tools, Perceived Quality, Retailers. INTRODUCTION Due to intense competition within the global market place, companies have shifted their marketing strategies towards branding (Krystallis and Chrysochou, 2014). Marketing strategies for brands have been diverted towards relationships and value creation that is directly linked to brand loyalty (Maheshwari et al., 2014). For decades, brand loyalty has been gaining recognition as an important component of marketing literature (Howard and Sheth, 1969). By focusing on brands as an effective marketing tool in business strategies, manufacturers have successfully persuaded end consumers to purchase their products. Distributors, on the other hand, conduct business-to-business (B2B) commercial transactions focusing on distribution control and building and developing relationships with customers (Steenkamp and Kumar, 2007). By utilizing appropriate merchandising strategies, present-day retailers hold significant positions in the marketplace through managing customer relationships and loyalty. Therefore, it is crucial for manufacturers to understand and fulfil retailers’ needs in building brand loyalty. Brand loyalty is essential in the hardware tools industry for retailers and manufacturers alike as product turnover rates are high. With technical developments and strong consumer preferences for the latest products, many hardware items are quickly outdated and replaced with newer versions. Hardware tool manufacturers need to constantly innovate their products to remain at the forefront of this increasingly competitive industry. When consumers perceive a brand to be of