Enhancing customer-brand relationship by leveraging loyalty program experiences that foster customer-brand identification

Abstract

Purpose

This study aims to investigate ways in which hotel loyalty programs can be designed to enhance customer’s identification with a hotel brand and develop a sustainable customer-brand relationship.

Design/methodology/approach

The study adopted a cross-sectional design survey questionnaire for data collection and used structural equation modeling data analysis to test the conceptual model.

Findings

The three loyalty program experiences proposed (member-to-member similarity, memorable loyalty program experience and loyalty program social benefits) exerted significant positive effects on customer-brand identification (CBI), which, in turn, influences customer-brand relationship elements, including trust, commitment and switching resistance.

Originality/value

This study expands the scope of CBI literature, which previously focused substantially on brand level experiences, by being the first to explore a new set of CBI antecedents with a focus on loyalty program experiences. Furthermore, the current study’s findings delineate specific strategies to uphold the social and experiential aspects of loyalty programs that can develop sustainable customer-brand relationships.

Citation

Shin, M., Back, K.-J., Lee, C.-K. and Lee, Y.-S. (2020), "Enhancing customer-brand relationship by leveraging loyalty program experiences that foster customer-brand identification", International Journal of Contemporary Hospitality Management, Vol. 32 No. 12, pp. 3991-4016. https://doi.org/10.1108/IJCHM-06-2020-0550