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Disconfirmation models of service quality have attracted a lot of discussion about how consumers’ expectations are formed, but relatively little about the nature of their perceptions of service performance. This paper seeks to redress the absence of literature on the psychological underpinnings of perceptions in disconfirmation models of service quality. It argues that an individual’s perceptions may not be stable over time and that suppliers should be particularly interested in consumers’ perceptions at the time that the next repurchase decision is made. A model of the time elapsed effects of service quality perception is presented and research reported on a longitudinal survey of hotel customers’ perceptions.

Analyses the variety of loyalty programmes that exist within the UK corporate hotel sector. A literature review leads to the proposition that in order to be cost‐effective in stimulating repeat business, loyalty programmes should reflect the business environment in which they operate. Loyalty programmes vary in the extent to which they collect, analyse and use customer information. A conceptual framework is developed in which information management and customisation are related to each other. This proposition supports the argument that there is no single formula for the development of a successful loyalty programme within the hotel sector. Although questions are raised about how the effectiveness of a loyalty programme can be measured, the proposition that market characteristics, information intensity and level of customisation can influence the effectiveness of a loyalty programme, is accepted.

Failure to consistently deliver promises is a likely outcome for high contact services. While many organizations create blueprints to recover from service failures, these tend to focus on production processes rather than the individual needs of customers. Develops a framework based on equity, for studying the effects on customers of service failure and recovery. In a study of restaurant customers, the construct of equity is found to be significantly correlated with respondents’ intention to repurchase. Significant differences in equity were observed between genders and age groups, suggesting that service recovery processes should be more closely tailored to the demographic characteristics of customers.

This paper seeks to explore the complex inter‐relationships between the attitudinal and behavioural dimensions of customer loyalty development, by examining the dynamic processes by which customer loyalty is initiated and sustained using a mixed methods approach. In doing so, the paper highlights the absence of valid and reliable measures of customer loyalty development and discusses the use of the multi‐phase model of customer loyalty development.

This model is the basis for the construction of a multi‐item scale to measure customer loyalty development. A mixed methods design is specified and stages in the construction of the scale are discussed including measures of validity and reliability.

The findings of the research demonstrate the validity and reliability of the loyalty scale and highlight the sustaining and mediating effects associated with different levels of loyalty development.

The study is set within the passenger ferry sector. Future research will seek to make empirical generalisations in relation to the application of the loyalty scale.

The main implications of this research are to emphasise the importance of sustaining and developing customer loyalty based on a differentiated approach to rewarding customers who have different levels of loyalty development. The findings highlighted the need to acknowledge the importance of reciprocity in terms of which aspects of service customers value within different levels of loyalty.

The main contributions of this paper are the presentation of the loyalty scale and the confirmation of the plateau of customer loyalty development.

The purpose of this paper is to focus on establishing individuals' levels of loyalty and what sustains and develops their customer loyalty. This paper recognises the importance customer loyalty has for many competitive organisations and industries. However there has been less focus on what value customer's attach to customer loyalty in this context.

A two‐stage study is presented, establishing individual levels of loyalty and then identifying the role of mediating effects in loyalty development. The first stage involved a postal survey, including a 28‐item scale, designed to measure customer loyalty, and its sustainers and vulnerabilities (mediating effects). The second stage, and the main focus of this paper, uses scores from the loyalty scale (high, medium and low levels of loyalty) to examine what sustains and develops loyalty amongst differing levels of development.

The findings highlight the importance of identifying, understanding and managing mediating effects, in the context of loyalty development. The research emphasises the importance of a differentiated approach to developing and managing customer loyalty by appropriately rewarding customers at different levels. The findings highlight the need to acknowledge the importance of reciprocity in terms of which aspects of service customers value.

The main contribution of this paper is that it uniquely identifies an approach to understanding the sustaining and vulnerability effects mediating customer loyalty development going beyond previous categorisation attempts. Understanding this approach should lead to effective customer loyalty management and greater awareness of managing recognition, reciprocity and rewards.