Building customer relationships: do discount cards work?
Managing Service Quality: An International Journal
ISSN: 0960-4529
Article publication date: 1 December 2000
Abstract
The relationship between customer loyalty and satisfaction, profitability and customer retention is described within the framework of relationship marketing. The importance of loyal customers and their impact on business profitability is undisputed, but it is more difficult to build customer retention than it may appear. Various strategies including loyalty schemes and discount cards are sometimes used in an effort to retain customers, but their success is questionable. A New Zealand hotel case study is presented which describes customer reactions to a discount card promotion. It was found that customers who purchased the card exhibited the characteristics of Morgan’s “mercenaries”. Although they had high satisfaction, their commitment to the company was low. However, in order to succeed, loyalty programmes need to develop “loyalists”, customers who have high satisfaction, high loyalty and who will stay and be supportive of the company.
Keywords
Citation
McIlroy, A. and Barnett, S. (2000), "Building customer relationships: do discount cards work?", Managing Service Quality: An International Journal, Vol. 10 No. 6, pp. 347-355. https://doi.org/10.1108/09604520010351491
Publisher
:MCB UP Ltd
Copyright © 2000, MCB UP Limited