The Marriage Between Guests and Hotel Brands (Part 1)
Albert BarraSeptember 18, 2018 · 4 min read
In business life, the concept of loyalty has not been clearly and fully established; hence, it has not been easy to measure. Conceptually, no consensus has been reached, resulting in a certain inconsistency across many isolated definitions. Nevertheless, considerable work has been carried out on the subject, particularly over the past 30 years, during which it has gradually risen to the privileged position it now holds among the primary concerns of so many companies, with the hotel industry increasingly embracing it.
In “Brand Loyalty Measurement and Management” (1978), Jacoby J. and Chesnut, R.W. identified fifty-three measures used to conceptualise and measure customer loyalty, which they classified, according to the variables involved, into three approaches: behavioural, attitudinal and an integrated approach combining both.
The behavioural approach is outcome-based, in which loyalty is expressed as repeat purchases or repeat use of services. It is measured through consequences, without analysing the causes that produce, develop and sustain repeat behaviour. The variables used in this behavioural approach are mainly those related to visit patterns and recommendations.
Measurement takes into account the customer’s purchase or visit history: repeat rate, probability, sequence, frequency/intensity and share of spend.
A recommendation occurs when the customer/tourist evaluates their consumption experience positively; otherwise, not only will it not occur, but there is also the risk of the action being reversed, with its well-known implications.
This approach is most appropriate in stable markets, with a high likelihood of brand switching and involvement, and low risk.
The attitudinal approach takes into account the customer’s choice and preference for a brand, product or service, particularly the attitude resulting from a positive evaluation process by the customer, which makes it possible to assess and distinguish the factors and variables that lead them to recall their behaviour. Here, the degree of commitment to the brand is expressed and defined as a feeling of affection or attachment towards the company’s employees, or a predisposition to consume that brand, as a function of psychological processes.
It is based on an emotional feeling towards the brand and on a body of accumulated information about the particular brand, product or service, hence the large number of variables involved. Its dynamic nature leads to action, making continuous improvement essential so that the customer always perceives a unique added value that motivates them to engage its services.
Attitude is explained through three basic components: cognitive, affective and conative.
In unstable markets, using this approach may help us better predict future behaviour.
By integrating both approaches, a third approach emerges, capable of addressing the concept of loyalty more accurately, since brand loyalty could be described as a combination of aspects that include behavioural response and, at the same time, as a function of psychological processes. From this perspective, customer loyalty is perceived as “the strength of the relationship between a person’s specific attitude and the act of returning as a customer.” Here, the customer’s/tourist’s attitude and behaviour towards the brand (destination, hotel or service), their satisfaction, as well as their willingness and repeat consumption, are manifested. This approach provides a more complete understanding of loyalty, taking into account the multitude of variables present in it, its dynamism and its two-dimensional nature.
In this case, loyalty is completed through the combination of both actions: a strong internal disposition towards the brand and repeated purchase of it.
As Baloglu, S., explains in “Dimensions of Customer Loyalty. Separating Friends from Well Wishers” (2002), this integrative approach provides an effective tool for segmenting the market and tailoring the organisation’s actions within the framework of its loyalty strategy, since this joint diagnosis makes it easier to differentiate customers, identifying whether they return because they are driven by a positive feeling towards the brand or for other reasons.This article ends here. The archive does not.
Lead Hospitality brings together 1200 English articles published since 2018: years of experiences, decisions and lessons you can keep exploring.
CONTINUE FROM HERE
What would you like to explore next?
Choose a direction and keep reading around what you want to solve, learn or challenge.
01MAKE MOREProfitability, revenue and decisions that reach the bottom line.
02LEAD BETTERTeams, culture, talent and the conversations that matter.
03SELL BETTERPositioning, marketing, distribution and customers.
04CREATE EXPERIENCESService, loyalty and details guests remember.
05UNDERSTAND WHAT'S NEXTInnovation, AI and new ways of thinking about Hospitality.
✦SURPRISE MEShow me something worth five minutes of my time.