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

Abstract

This study examines if labeling customers as 'member' versus 'nonmember' 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. ARTICLE HISTORY

Call it a customer club! How reward programme’s name impacts programme effectiveness

“…Worldwide, several companies from different industries chose to call their reward programmes “club” such as Easy jet, Nespresso, Lidl or Eurostar. These naming decisions might affect how customers categorise these reward programmes and what they expect from them, as highlighted by Söderlund (2019): “program names involving ‘club’ and ‘family’ may create stronger associations with prototypical membership content than, say, ‘frequency program’” (p. 351).…”

“…However, despite decades of research, the question of which type of reward is most effective to build customers' loyalty remains unanswered. While some authors highlight the importance of soft rewards, that is, intangible and emotional rewards such as personalised services, to generate gratitude and loyalty (Audrain-Pontevia and Garnier, 2021;Charinsarn et al, 2023;Khare et al, 2019;S€ oderlund, 2019), others reach the conclusion that programme effectiveness can be achieved through hard rewards, that is, financial and tangible rewards such as discounts (Cedrola and Memmo, 2010;Meyer-Waarden et al, 2023;Miao et al, 2023), probably because a significant number of price-sensitive consumers are still looking for the "best deals" (Flacandji and Vlad, 2022). In addition to its mixed results, the hard/soft classification can be fuzzy since some emotional rewards, such as VIP rooms, can be monetised which might blur the lines between the hard and soft frontiers.…”

“…, 2023; Khare et al. , 2019; Söderlund, 2019), others reach the conclusion that programme effectiveness can be achieved through hard rewards, that is, financial and tangible rewards such as discounts (Cedrola and Memmo, 2010; Meyer-Waarden et al. , 2023; Miao et al.…”

Driving young Muslim loyalty toward Muslim-majority tourism destinations: the sense of community theory perspective

“…Influence is raised when the feeling of belonging results from social identity, causing emotional significance attached to the feeling of being a member (Shin et al , 2021). This feeling results from a person feeling part of a group and provides a sense of emotional safety (McMillan, 1996; Söderlund, 2019). These social bonds cause inter-influential connections between the parties in the group as their degree of mutual friendship as well as between a member and the whole community, including the product or service associated with the community (Marinkovic and Obradovic, 2015; Zhao and Wise, 2019).…”

“…This shared faith and value makes people feel they belong to a community (Shin et al , 2021), that is, the Muslim community. This feeling of belongingness shapes a person's cohesion with the community, subsequently impacting their behaviour towards the community (Guachalla, 2022; Söderlund, 2019). Further, past empirical studies hint at the positive impact of a sense of community on purchasing a product and a service associated with the community (Cappelli et al , 2022; Ferguson and Thompson, 2021; Peterson et al , 2008).…”