在线品牌社群中顾客参与、顾客契合与品牌忠诚的关系研究——感知不确定性的调节作用

在服务主导逻辑下,在线品牌社群顾客参与对品牌忠诚具有重要影响.本文从顾客视角出发,将顾客参与、顾客契合、感知不确定性与品牌忠诚纳入同一研究框架,探讨在线品牌社群中顾客参与对品牌忠诚的具体作用机制.采用偏最小二乘法对收集到的537份有效样本进行多元线性回归分析,结果表明:在线品牌社群中顾客参与能够直接促进常规品牌忠诚和敌对品牌忠诚;顾客参与能够通过顾客契合间接促进常规品牌忠诚和敌对品牌忠诚,顾客契合在顾客参与和品牌忠诚间起到中介作用;感知不确定性负向调节顾客参与对顾客契合的影响.     

中国移动通信市场下的顾客忠诚实证研究

顾客忠诚研究已经成为企业管理理论研究的一个热点问题，而且已经识别出了许多影响顾客忠诚的因素，但是这些影响顾客忠诚的因素具体到某个行业是否起作用，都需要通过实证来检验。文章选取中国移动通信市场为行业背景，通过对移动通信市场顾客的调查问卷分析，识别出了在中国移动通信市场下影响顾客忠诚的因素，其中转移成本是核心决定因素，对顾客忠诚影响最大，并为中国移动通信运营商提出了一些实践建议。     

零售企业实施顾客忠诚计划的对策研究

顾客忠诚计划作为培育长期顾客的营销项目,对于零售企业赢得长期收益和提升竞争优势有重要意义。本文在分析顾客忠诚计划类型的基础上,对零售企业实施顾客忠诚计划的对策进行深入研究。     

企业竞争力的重要因素——顾客忠诚

顾客忠诚是构成企业竞争力的重要因素,是企业获得长期利润的重要源泉。顾客满意与顾客忠诚之间存在继承与发展的关系,企业应在顾客满意的基础上为建立顾客忠诚而努力。企业应同时从行为因素和情感因素来识别顾客真正的忠诚,并从产品品质、服务品质、价格、创新等方面来增加顾客的整体利益,以培养顾客的真正忠诚。     

网络营销环境下顾客忠诚培养

顾客忠诚是企业的生存之本,是企业的利润源泉,是网络时代企业竞争的核心。本文在分析网络营销环境下顾客忠诚的重要意义的基础上,进一步研究网络营销环境下影响顾客忠诚的因素,并提出顾客忠诚的培养方法。     

服务利润链与服务营销管理

服务利润链认为:企业获利能力的强弱主要是由顾客忠诚度决定的;顾客忠诚是由顾客满意决定的;顾客满意是由顾客认为所获得的价值大小决定的;价值大小最终要由工作富有效率、对公司忠诚的员工来创造;而员工对公司的忠诚取决于其对公司是否满意;满意与否主要应视公司内部是否给予了高质量的内在服务。本文在分析服务利润链内在逻辑关系的基础上,对以服务利润链为中心的营销管理策略进行了探讨。     

如何处理顾客现场抱怨

进入20世纪90年代以来，市场份额和利润的相关程度已大大降低，顾客的满意和忠诚成为影响企业利润高低的决定性要素。实践证明，消除顾客抱怨是增强顾客满意、培养顾客忠诚的有效途径。顾客抱怨的形式有许多种，如现场抱怨，打电话抱怨，写信抱怨，发送电子邮件抱怨等等，本文着重分析的是顾客的现场抱怨行为以及服务人员应如何处理此种形式的顾客抱怨，旨在提供一个处理现场顾客抱怨的模式。     

中国移动通信市场下的顾客忠诚实证研究

顾客忠诚研究已经成为企业管理理论研究的一个热点问题,而且已经识别出了许多影响顾客忠诚的因素,但是这些影响顾客忠诚的因素具体到某个行业是否起作用,都需要通过实证来检验。文章选取中国移动通信市场为行业背景,通过对移动通信市场顾客的调查问卷分析,识别出了在中国移动通信市场下影响顾客忠诚的因素,其中转移成本是核心决定因素,对顾客忠诚影响最大,并为中国移动通信运营商提出了一些实践建议。     

中国移动通信市场下的顾客忠诚实证研究

顾客忠诚研究已经成为企业管理理论研究的一个热点问题,而且已经识别出了许多影响顾客忠诚的因素,但是这些影响顾客忠诚的因素具体到某个行业是否起作用,都需要通过实证来检验.文章选取中国移动通信市场为行业背景,通过对移动通信市场顾客的调查问卷分析,识别出了在中国移动通信市场下影响顾客忠诚的因素,其中转移成本是核心决定因素,对顾客忠诚影响最大,并为中国移动通信运营商提出了一些实践建议.     

顾客忠诚的测量研究

文章对相关文献进行梳理，总结了忠诚的测量方法，并给予评价。这不仅有利于将来对顾客忠诚展开系统深入的研究，也有助于营销实践者更清晰地甄别顾客，制定和实施有效的顾客忠诚计划。     

The impact of introducing a customer loyalty program on category sales and profitability

The authors propose and empirically investigate the effect of category-specific attributes as important factors associated with the change in pre-versus post-loyalty program introduction category sales and profits. Category penetration and frequency are positively correlated with loyalty program success with an increase in sales and profits, whereas impulse buying and ability to stockpile show negative correlations. Furthermore, although introducing a loyalty program generates immediate spikes in sales and profits in most categories; its impact is generally short-lived. It results in an initial redistribution of category expenditures during the program launch, where consumers seemingly shift consumption from lightly purchased categories to heavily purchased categories. But the effect soon erodes. Nevertheless, by modeling the diffusion process of loyalty program performance, this paper finds that penetration rate and private label share are key drivers of a category's sustainable growth. The evolution of consumer price elasticities and promotion sensitivities are tracked pre- and post-loyalty program introduction, and profit-driving categories are identified according to their category characteristics. New insights are offered on category management and long-term program planning.     

“Make me feel special”: Are hierarchical loyalty programs a panacea for all brands? The role of brand concept

Despite extant literature, the most effective structure of loyalty programs is still heavily questioned among researchers. Building on the congruence principle, we examine the moderating role of brand concept. Our findings reveal that for symbolic brand concepts, customers perceive hierarchical loyalty program structures (which classify customers into tiers according to spending levels or other purchase activities) to be more congruent; this perception increases firm loyalty intentions. However, for functional brand concepts, customers perceive hierarchical and linear loyalty programs structures as equally congruent. Also for symbolic brand concepts, program structure appears as the most important feature in ensuring perceived congruence between a program and a brand, ahead of program benefits. These findings have important theoretical and managerial implications.     

Building chain loyalty in grocery retailing by means of loyalty programs – A study of ‘the Norwegian case’

The aim of the paper is to analyze chain loyalty effects of customers' perceived value of loyalty programs in grocery retailing. It contributes to filling a gap in the literature, as there has been little earlier focus on the links between customers' perception of loyalty program value and satisfaction, image, and loyalty, at the chain level. One main finding is that customers’ perceived value of a loyalty program has significant direct and moderating effects on chain loyalty, and the moderation effects are chain dependent. Managers should thus consider satisfaction creation, image building, and loyalty program value creation as parallel processes.     

The effects of distributive,procedural, and interactional justice on customer retention: An empirical investigation in the mobile telecom industry in Tunisia

The framework offered in this study provides empirical evidence concerning the interaction between distributive, procedural and interactional perceived justice and loyalty program satisfaction on relational satisfaction in the mobile telecommunication context. Firms that rely on justice perception for strategy implementation are able to attain customer retention. This study suggests a theoretical model of customer retention that aims at investigating the role of satisfaction with loyalty program on relationship marketing. The structural equation modeling was used to test the hypothetical relationships. A self-administrated questionnaire was distributed to a total of a convenience sample of 520 customers of multiple mobile phone companies. The target population includes customers who have subscribed to a loyalty program. Results show that distributive justice moderates the relationship between satisfaction with the loyalty program and relational satisfaction. The results highlight the need to focus on distributive justice in order to nurture satisfaction and loyalty. Satisfaction with the loyalty program is a key predictor of a satisfactory relationship with the operator and customer retention.     

Are Variety-Seekers Bad Customers?

SUMMARY

Variety-seeking behavior occurs if customers derive utility from a change of service providers. It has negative consequences for the firm's profits, because it functions as a moderating factor in the relationship of customer satisfaction and customer loyalty. Even by offering high service quality variety-seekers cannot be retained. Therefore variety-seekers are often seen as “bad” customers, because they are not loyal to the firm. This article will show variety-seeking behavior in a more positive light. Variety-seekers are satisfied customers and therefore they are likely to engage in positive word-of-mouth communication. Recommendations will help to attract new customers and thus increase profits.     

Drivers of customer likelihood to join grocery retail loyalty programs. An analysis of reward programs and loyalty cards

This paper aims to identify which personal features of customers may determine their likelihood to join a grocery retail loyalty program. We consider five aspects: price sensitivity, search for variety, shopping enjoyment, attitude toward loyalty schemes, and one personality trait: privacy concerns. Some of these variables have already been explored in the literature. Where our research breaks new ground is in establishing the difference between profiles of customers attracted by two of the most common types of loyalty programs currently used by grocery retail firms: a reward program and a loyalty card. The two kinds of program evidence differences in how they are managed, and we posit that the drivers of likelihood to take part in each are different. The study was carried out using logistic regression with a sample of 600 clients of a Spanish supermarket chain. Findings show that one particular type of customer is more likely to take part in these schemes: those displaying little shopping enjoyment, who are greatly concerned with privacy, and who show a favorable attitude toward loyalty programs in general. Furthermore, as expected, differences were observed between drivers of participation likelihood in reward programs and loyalty cards.     

Customers' relationship with their grocery store: Direct and moderating effects from store format and loyalty programs

This paper aims: (i) to characterize the priorities designed and implemented by grocery retailers concerning relationship marketing with customers; (ii) to analyse customers’ relationship with their grocery store and to evaluate store format and loyalty programs as key determinants of this relationship. Exploratory interviews were conducted with grocery store managers. Two independent samples of Portuguese customers answered a questionnaire and collected data were analysed using Structural Equation Modelling. Main results suggest that supermarkets lead to higher levels of customers’ trust (directly) and customers’ loyalty (indirectly). Furthermore, the positive effect of customers’ satisfaction on customers’ loyalty is higher for members of grocery store loyalty programs.     

Loyalty program structure and consumers' perceptions of status: Feeling special in a grocery store?

Loyalty programs are business practices increasingly pursued by companies in order to achieve customer loyalty. Recent studies have focused on the relationship between loyalty program structures (i.e., number and size of hierarchical tiers) and status levels (i.e., exclusivity) perceived by members. The current study examines two potential moderators of this relationship between program structure and perceived status. Specifically, the aim of our research was to test whether loyalty program structure affects status perceptions in more and less exclusive industries, and among consumers with more and less positive attitudes toward loyalty programs.An experimental design based on different scenarios was used. Two industries and three loyalty program structures were examined. In the airline industry, which is higher in perceived exclusivity, perceived status in the top tier of the loyalty program increased as the number of customers in the top tier decreased and as the number of tiers increased. Notably, however, loyalty program structure had no effect on perceived status in the supermarket industry, which is lower in perceived exclusivity. Moreover, even in the airline industry, status effects were only observed among respondents with a positive attitude toward loyalty programs. Those with neutral or negative attitudes toward loyalty programs were unaffected by the structure of the loyalty program. Thus, the effect of loyalty program structure on consumers' perceived status varied systematically across industries and across individuals.     

Customer relationship management in competitive environments: The positive implications of a short-term focus

Researchers and business thought leaders have emphasized that firms must think and act with a long-term horizon when managing customer relationships. We demonstrate that, in contrast to this widely held view, profits in competitive environments may be maximized when firms ignore the future and instead maximize period-by-period profits from customers. Intuitively, while a long-term focus yields more loyal customers, it greatly increases short-term price competition to gain and keep customers. Consequently, overall firm profits and customer lifetime value may be lower when firms directly maximize multi-period profits from customers. Specifically, we analyze a model with segment-level pricing where firms in a duopoly can choose between period-by-period and multi-period profit maximization and demonstrate that, in many cases, a symmetric focus on period-by-period profit maximization emerges as the Pareto-dominant Nash equilibrium. We extend the model in two directions. First, we demonstrate that this superiority of the short-term focus endures even when a revenue expansion effect applies—that is, when customer loyalty leads to enhanced revenues. Second, we examine the case where customers are strategic and incorporate the long-term implications of their choices into their decision-making. Here we demonstrate that it may pay for firms to be myopic even when customers are strategic. The focus on multi-period surplus makes customers less price sensitive to price variations at the early stage of the game. Consequently, the focus on maximizing period-by-period profits enables the firms to charge higher upfront prices and leverage this lower price sensitivity into higher profits. Overall, our results highlight the paradox that, when it comes to managing customer relationships in competitive environments, a short-term focus may constitute the optimal long-term strategy.

Can the label ‘member’ in a loyalty program context boost customer satisfaction?

ABSTRACT

This study examines if labeling customers as ‘member’ versus ‘non-member’ in the context of a firm’s loyalty program can influence the customers’ evaluations of the firm. It was assumed that firms’ membership-related labels, which typically are euphemisms in relation to the mere discounts offered by many loyalty programs, can (a) prime customers so that positively charged content in a general member category is activated, and that (b) this content can have a positive impact on evaluations of firms with loyalty programs. An experiment showed that evoking customers’ membership status resulted in a higher level of sense of belonging, and higher customer satisfaction, for members than for non-members. Sense of belonging mediated the impact of evoking membership status on customer satisfaction. A second study confirmed that the content of customers’ general member construct is indeed associated with sense of belonging and satisfaction.