Translate

Friday, 6 July 2012

2.3.1 Emergence of the idea of customer loyalty


2.3.1 Emergence of the idea of customer loyalty

There exist a number of ways to define the concept of loyalty that make the overall concept and the ability to measure customer loyalty somewhat burdensome.  In 1969, Day revealed that the concept of customer loyalty was the combination of repeat purchases from one service

In 1978, Jacoby and Chestnut stated that the only way to understand brand loyalty was to examine the belief, attitude, and cognitive structure of the customers’ orientation of the focal brand. Customer loyalty is force of the bond between customers’ attitude and his willingness to repurchase a particular product (Dick and Basu, 1994). Oliver(1997) states:  “loyalty is described as a deeply held commitment to rebuy or repartonize a preferred product or service consistently in the future”

In 1997, Oliver stated that “customer satisfaction must remain a central tenet of all relationship management efforts in the hotel sector.  Hospitality organizations typically strive to make customer satisfaction a focal point of their core values, visions and mission.” McMullan & Gilmore (2003) five stages, it will start at “0”t level , with no information.  During level one, customer develops an idea which might find a certain service  or product better than others.  Level two is the point in which the customer develops a favorable or unfavorable attitude toward the service or provider; it will, follow  to the third phase; which is  the customers intention to return or recommend.  The fourth and final phase requires the customer to take action and act on his or her beliefs and attitude. 

In addition, McMullan (2005) highlighted the fact that a customer may prefer one brand or service over the others; however, if an alternative brand or offer is more appealing and the customer feels that the preferred service organization is not worthy of their loyalty, the possibility of switching to the competition increases. 



McMullan (2005) supported the belief of Reichheld (2003) when he stated “a loyal customer is one who values the relationship with the company enough to make the company a preferred supplier.  Loyal customers do not switch for small variations in price or service, they provide honest and constructive feedback, and provide enthusiastic referrals.”However, in consideration of competition ,growth and expansion and the arrival of seasoned  guests, organizations face difficulties in delivering quality service. 



Quality service considered to be the foundation of an organizations success the organizations focus on quality produce customer satisfaction and loyalty which engage in future behaviors.Shoemaker and Bowen (2003) referred to loyalty through quality service and on-going customer satisfaction as the new Holy Grail; that in which all service organizations should strive to achieve.

In 1999, Shoemaker and Lewis introduced a concept that the service organization must execute three functions of in order to engender customer loyalty. The Loyalty Triangle; an equal lateral triangle with each side representing one of the functions needed to execute loyalty.

                                                                       Value creation

   Process                                                            





                                                                                                      

                                           Communication

Figure 2.3.1.1.Source: (Shoemaker & Lewis, 1999)



 2.3.1.1 Figure Explanation

Process

It include every incident from the time customer first interact with  the service experience to the time the service experience ends or the customer leaves the property. 

Value Creation. 

It Includes  two parts

·   value added -strategies that increase the long-term value of the relationship

·   value recovery. -It was designed to rectify a service problem or failure that may occur during the service experience

Database Management and Communication.

This side incorporates the importance of communication between the provider  and the customer.  Communication consider many ways forms such as newsletters, advertisements, special promotions, or courtesy calls to notify the customer of special events, featured favorites or limited availability.

No comments:

Post a Comment