The Guest–Hotel Brand Marriage (Part 4): Spurious Loyalty and No Loyalty

In the third instalment, I explained loyalty based on a relatively high attitudinal commitment and variations in purchasing behaviour. In this article, I will address it from the perspective of low relative attitude and different purchasing behaviour. False loyalty. (Low Attitude – High Behaviour) Also referred to as artificial loyalty, pseudo-loyalty or inertia. This type of loyalty involves an unfavourable attitude towards the hotel brand, coupled with high repeat purchasing. This type of loyalty is associated with low-priced brands that are easy and frequently purchased. Customers within this category are, or feel, trapped by the brand, and switching to another one is very costly for them; they are therefore also known as “hostage” or “vulnerable” customers. Brand loyalty is adopted through inertia as a result of low involvement, evidenced by the absence of active research and evaluation, either because research costs are high or simply because it is considered unnecessary. This category is driven by the influence of various situational factors, such as:

1. the absence of alternatives.
2. the absence of qualitative differences between brands, or the inability to distinguish them, etc.
3. “Inertia” purchases driven by habits or customs, and even chance.
4. Repeat purchases resulting from promotions and special discount offers, or from high switching costs due to economic, psychological or technical factors.

The nature of this type of customer is linked to a high degree of susceptibility to change, so hotels should not place too much trust in them. To retain them, incentive programmes should be targeted and intensified, while continuously working to differentiate the brand. If a hotel relies solely on incentive programmes for repeat guests as part of its loyalty programme, it should assess, in these cases, the guests’ level of loyalty to the programme, as they may remain loyal only until they have earned the incentive. For a falsely loyal customer to cease being so, a number of circumstances must arise, such as: the entry of new competing brands, a reduction in the appeal of the dominant brand, easier brand switching as a result of lower switching costs, the end of promotional programmes, offers or discounts, market deregulation, loss of patent protection, etc. No loyalty. (Low Attitude – Low Behaviour) This is also known as a lost cause: low relative attitude combined with low repeat purchasing. These customers are known as “defectors”, and include both neutral and dissatisfied customers to varying degrees. The main reason for the existence of this category lies in the poor treatment of the brand, whether due to the product or the service received by these customers. Lack of attention, poor service, inconsistent promotions disconnected from reality, a mismatch between price and quality, etc., are some of the factors that lead to the emergence of these customers, their abandonment and rejection of the brand. The most dangerous type of these “defectors” are the so-called “terrorists”, who enjoy publicising their bitter experiences with the brand and tarnishing its image. This category of disloyal customers includes the so-called “extremely disloyal customer”, who readily seeks refuge in the arms of any other brand offering the same type of product and/or service, due to their negative feelings towards the brand they previously purchased and will never use again. Hotels must avoid this type of customer because of the highly contagious and viral nature of the negative consequences. To do so, they must train both front-line and back-of-house staff in all aspects of internal marketing, with a view to improving service, satisfying guests, adding value and exceeding customer expectations, while preventing any unpleasant situation that may arise at the hotel and lead the customer to become disloyal. Classifying the type of loyalty can be extremely useful for hotels in identifying segments and customers, and linking them to each service in order to develop better strategies and approaches overall, seeking to improve satisfaction levels and expand, day by day, the list of customers married to our services