Loyalty program value: Give me more or treat me better?

Abstract

Customer loyalty programs are frequently used by companies to establish and improve relationships with customers by providing them with rewards. Loyalty programs investigated in the literature focus mainly on tangible rewards and economic benefits offered to the customers. However, some research done on intangible rewards of loyalty programs suggest that they can be superior to tangible benefits in affecting customer loyalty. Previous research drew conclusions in industry-specific settings. The aim of the paper is to assess the impact of tangible and intangible benefits on customer loyalty using an on-line customer panel representing different industries. The data collected from over 300 customers is subjected to CFA/SEM analysis in R environment. The main contribution of the present study is that it represents the first attempt (to the best of authors" knowledge) to capture loyalty programs" tangible and intangible value in an Arab cultural context, given the fact the focus was on the participants from the United Arab Emirates. Several important dimensions of LP programs in an Arab country are revealed. Firstly, the study confirmed that social value of a loyalty program significantly impacts customer loyalty. In addition, it was confirmed that the flexibility of a loyalty program increased customer loyalty. Ultimately, it was established that customers value intangible benefits more than the tangible ones.

The influence of loyalty programs on loyal consumer behavior

“…Finansijski podsticaji, kao što su sniženja cena, obezbeđenje besplatnih proizvoda, ušteda u vremenu i fizičkom naporu u kupovini, smanjuju troškove kupovine i vode automatizmu u procesu odlučivanja potrošača. Fleksibilnost se ogleda u raznovrsnosti finansijskih podsticaja koje potrošači mogu da biraju u određenom vremenskom periodu, jednostavnosti u njihovom korišćenju i osećaju da članovi programa dele iste vrednosti (Bolton, Lemon & Verhoef, 2004; Mimouni-Chaabane & Volle, 2010; So et al, 2015, Kwiatek et al, 2021. Istraživanja su pokazala da fleksibilnost smanjuje verovatnoću da će se potrošači pridružiti drugim programima lojalnosti (Kwiatek et al, 2021, Xiong et al, 2014.…”

“…Fleksibilnost se ogleda u raznovrsnosti finansijskih podsticaja koje potrošači mogu da biraju u određenom vremenskom periodu, jednostavnosti u njihovom korišćenju i osećaju da članovi programa dele iste vrednosti (Bolton, Lemon & Verhoef, 2004; Mimouni-Chaabane & Volle, 2010; So et al, 2015, Kwiatek et al, 2021. Istraživanja su pokazala da fleksibilnost smanjuje verovatnoću da će se potrošači pridružiti drugim programima lojalnosti (Kwiatek et al, 2021, Xiong et al, 2014. Pouzdanost znači obezbeđenje potrošačima onoga što je obećano pre njihovog uključenja u program (Shiwakoti et al, 2020).…”

A contemporary bibliometric analysis of the sharing economy literature

“…The consumption that goes beyond ownership has grown rapidly in the last decade. The driver of the accelerated development of the sharing economy knowledge comes as a result of the evolution of the consumption phenomena [43] and broader awareness of resource scarcity and growing concerns about its environmental, social and developmental impacts [40], [46]. In this context, the sharing economy was often grasped as a sustainable concept charachterized by access to resources at lower prices, their efficient and sustainable use and the promotion of cooperation and solidarity.…”