Role of Brand Loyalty

Everyday you make purchase decisions. Some of which are based on brand loyalty. Stop and think abut when you became loyal to a specific brand. Childhood? College? Constant availability on the grocery shelves? You and millions of other consumers make the decision to purchase a brand over and over. This is loyalty.

Fostering Brand Loyalty
In a dream world, brands would love an abundance of loyal customers. Unfortunately we are in the real world which requires brands to foster loyalty with consumers. One of ICC/ Decision Services experts, Terry Vavra, has coauthored “Loyalty Myths: Hyped Strategies That Will Put You Out of Business and Proven Tactics That Really Work“. The authors found consumers who had high involvement levels with their brand where more loyal. So how does a brand engage consumers?

Taken from “Loyalty Myths” , customer involvement can be fostered by:

1.Increase the purchase’s importance for the customer
2. Adding emotional significant to the purchase
3. Associating the purchase with an ongoing interest
4. Associating the purchase with a relevant reference group.

All of these considerations are directly related to the customer’s experience. Significance can be added by brand’s promoting their top benefits. For example, take laundry detergent. Military members are a niche market whose uniforms require laundry detergent with no certain additives. There are very few brand which fill this need. These brand should ensure availability in every grocery store which surround military installations. This takes the importance of purchasing the right brand within the reach of the customer.

The only way for brands to foster involvement is to know your consumer. Proactive consumer and industry research provides important insight to consumer needs, interests, and emotional attachments. Brands should know which benefits they offer their customers. Whether it’s being gluten free, organic, or offer an advantage over the competition, this is the information consumers are looking for. This is information that needs to be visible at the retail shelves.

The point of purchase is the last place and the most important place brands can reach a customer. How is your brand using point of purchase to foster customer involvement? Do you offer coupons? Free samples? There is not one right answer for all brands. Brands who research and ask customer’s for feedback, will know what are the most effective ways to foster customer involvement.

What are the techniques brands get you, as a consumer, involved? Does it help foster brand loyalty?