The brand loyalty life cycle: Implications for marketers
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REBEKAH BENNETT received her PhD in marketing from the University of Queensland, Australia. She is a lecturer in the University of Queensland Business School and researches brand loyalty and emotions in consumer behaviour. She has published papers on brand loyalty in the Journal of Brand Management, Journal of Product and Brand Management, Industrial Marketing Management and the Journal of Services Marketing.
SHARYN RUNDLE-THIELE is an early-career researcher. Her research interests centre on customer loyalty and decision making. She has written papers (published and forthcoming) on loyalty for the Journal of Brand Management, the Journal of Services Marketing, the Journal of Retailing and Consumer Services and the Journal of Product and Brand Management. She also has a paper on consumer decision making forthcoming in the European Journal of Marketing.
Abstract Name brands remain fundamental to consumer life in the Western world. Consumers may not be as loyal to one brand as were their ancestors, but they are loyal to brands. This paper proposes a brand loyalty life cycle and draws implications for marketers. The brand loyalty life cycle is thought to comprise five eras of brand loyalty: (1) the birth of brand loyalty, (2) the golden era of brand loyalty, (3) latent brand loyalty, (4) the birth of multi-brand loyalty, and (5) the final era of declining loyalty. This paper suggests that brand managers may need to update their understanding of the nature and role of brand loyalty. In the current era, marketers must offer differentiated products, the brand meaning of which resonates with consumers, to achieve brand loyalty.
INTRODUCTION
Rebekah Bennett UQ Business School, University of Queensland, Brisbane, QLD 4072, Australia Tel: ⫹61 7 3365 8283 Fax: ⫹61 7 3381 1053 E-mail: [email protected]
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The topic of brand loyalty holds great interest for market researchers, marketing managers and marketing academics. Brand loyalty is a key issue for many marketing managers, and companies spend millions of dollars each year tracking brand loyalty levels through market research organisations. Many market research companies detail brand loyalty research as a key business area, reflecting the importance of this concept for brand management. This interest in brand loyalty is also reflected in the academic literature, where loyalty has also been referred to as commitment1,2 and retention.3,4 Brand loyalty is a very topical issue as evidenced by hundreds of brand loyalty articles appearing in both industry and
academic journals, and the level of marketing manager interest in brand loyalty topics at marketing industry conferences. Brand loyalty is a measure of the health of the organisation. A base of loyal customers allows marketers to charge a premium price5,6 and to reduce the cost of doing business through decreasing acquisition and promotion costs,7–9 thus increasing shareholder value10 and hence profitability. Despite the large volume of research and the large amount of money spent, marketing managers are st
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