The primary focus of this research is to develop and understanding the reasons for brand loyalty, as there is a literature gap in this area of marketing management. A lot of researches been done in the past on the benefits of brand loyalty but there is a literature gap on how an organisation can build brand loyalty. The literature of market is still debating of what compromises brand loyalty (Chaudhuri & Holbrook, 2001).
The literature review analyses the general theories surrounding the concept of brand loyalty in previously adapted marketing management guidance, marketing science and the human communication researches with an indication as how understanding the factors contributing brand loyalty can actually help organisations to build brand loyalty amongst consumers. The sources used for the literature review are journal of management, information quarterly, textbooks, academic blogs, and official website publications.
The structure of literature review begins with of definition of brand loyalty and then moves to the general theories surrounding factors contributing for brand loyalty d then a focused research on Apple’s achievement of brand loyalty.
Brand Loyalty
According to Bennett, Brand Loyalty has been existence since the 1920’s (Bennett & Rundle-Thiele, 2002). Brand loyalty can simply be defined as the prejudiced behavioural purchase by consumers over the time with respect of one brand in comparison of other brands with similar functions due to psychological
Thus, companies seek to strengthen customer loyalty. Brand loyalty is considered to tilt the consumer to purchase the package / product specific brand (Jacoby and Chestnut, 1978). Later, Oliver (1997) defined loyalty as "a deeply held commitment to REBUY or repatronize preferred product / service consistently in the future, thereby causing repetitive same-brand or same brand set purchasing, despite situational influences and marketing activities, which would result in causing switching behavior "(p. 34). This conceptual definition covers two different aspects of loyalty: the behavioral. This is consistent with an integrated conceptual framework proposed by Dick and Basu (1994), that customer loyalty is regarded as a "power relationship between the relative position of the individual and repeat
Simplified brand loyalty describes a status in which consumers determine their selves in; out of it they become committed to a brand. Thereby they continue purchasing products or services of a specific brand. At this point consumers rather spent more money on a product of a specific brand than buying from multiple suppliers within the same category. Mainly brand loyalty is a result of consumer’s behavior, which is enforced through a company’s measurements regarding branding. Branding is a process that a company runs through in order to establish a new brand. The ambition here is to strengthen a unique name and image for a product in
Throughout the dissection there were many opportunities and weaknesses to uncover. Strong consumer loyalty is an important strength that can help increase word-of-mouth of the brand. Many people look for information for new brands online through websites, reviews,
Primarily the loyalty is based on perception, not tangible evidence. Here we can see how important brand equity and positioning can be to a product that is otherwise probably on par with many of its competitors, but the message conveyed by the brand is quite different.
Brand loyalty is “when a consumer display a steadfast allegiance to a brand by repeatedly purchasing is”. (Text Book pg. 316) Every industry in the world benefits from brand loyalty because without consumers there is no industry. It is tremendously important for Aline Polo to identify areas in its brand that can improve and create loyalty with their consumer. The changes can be simple with little cost to the company. For example, a change in the current return policy from 20 days to 30 days can create peace of mine with the consumer. Comscore.com is a global media measurement and analytics company states; “consumer now expect free returns with 82% respondents saying they would complete the purchase if they could return the item to a store or have free return shipping, and 66% said they view a retailer’s return policy before making a purchase”. Aline Polo is a website based company with no physical store location. Frist time customer can be hesitant in purchasing product because they cannot physically touch the marital and become even more hesitant because of the return policy. When a company is attempting to create brand loyalty with consumer they must be aware and sensitive to their consumers' concerns. By adapting key aspect in the company that eases their consumers concerns they are able to make a relationship with the company and consumers who are brand-loyal typically exhibit less sensitivity to
Ted Baker’s brand differentiation and consumer loyalty can further be related to the characteristics theory, which was developed by Kelvin Lancaster in the mid-60’s and it is based on four key assumptions:
The research results showed that product quality was not the strongest factor that led to brand loyalty but market inertia and that product quality was more likely to lead
Brand loyalty is when customer purchasing behavior is repetitive and customers become committed to a certain brand over a long period. Customers can become loyal to a type of brand regardless of pricing and other factors contributing to the success of a business such as location and convenience. Businesses use loyalty programs such as loyalty rewards programs to encourage loyal customers.
In general, brand loyalty is understood to describe the characteristics of those consumers who have a strong commitment to a brand, because they view that brand as being more satisfactory than the alternatives and this evaluation is reinforced through repeated use (Jonna, 2001). The literature is quite clear on what brand loyalty means; however, there are differences of opinion on its measurement. The instrumental conditioning perspective views behavioral measures such as actual purchase patterns as being the best indicators of brand loyalty. This line of research maintains that brand loyalty develops from the positive reinforcement received from trying a brand and being satisfied with it, which leads to repeat purchase (Jonna, 2001). The problem is that behavioral measures cannot distinguish between actual brand loyalty (i.e., affect for the brand) and “spurious” repeat purchase patterns that may result from convenience, availability, inertia, or other factors. The cognitive school proposes that only measures of a consumer’s mental processes and beliefs can make the distinction between actual brand loyalty and spurious behavior (Day, 1969; Lutz & Winn, 1974). From this perspective, brand loyalty is the result of the consumer’s search and attributes evaluation process, which leads to beliefs of brand appropriateness or superiority and repeat purchase. An example of this is the
As a company, customer mentality is important for them to affect the volume of business. Brand loyalty is one of related issues of customer purchasing choices. FOONG YEE and YAHYAH (2008) stated that many companies, especially those in the sportswear industry try to enhance brand loyalty among their customers.
Brand loyalty, long a central construct in marketing, is a measure of the attachment that a customer has to a brand. It reflects how likely a customer will be to switch to another brand, especially when that brand makes a change, either in price or in product features. As brand loyalty increases, the vulnerability of the customer base to competitive action is reduced. It is one indicator of brand equity which is demonstrably linked to future profits, since brand loyalty directly translates into future sales.
Engel and Blackwell (1982) regard brand loyalty as the customers’ rreaction to preference, attitude and behavior towards one or more brands in a same product category for a long-lasting time. Assael(1992) and Keller(1993) defined brand loyalty as a preferable response towards a brand which leads to the repetitive action of purchasing over a period of time. While Gremler(1995) includes both attitude and behaviour into the scale of measurement of loyalty. Blanchard and Galloway (1994) and Heskett et al (1990) believed that customers assess the value gained from a transaction or service, thus resulting in customer satisfaction.. It is also related to the value expected from the transactions with competitors (Zeithaml et al., 1990). The relationship between customer satisfaction and customer loyalty is the most significant one in the business market on account of the implications for companies’ marketing environment and financial situations (Gupta and Zeithaml, 2006). The current studies identify customer satisfaction as an attitude describing consumers’ perceptions towards their purchasing experiences (Anderson and Salisbury 2003) while customer loyalty, as a result of customer satisfaction, is identified as a potential behaviour to
Brand loyalty is the target of all marketers. It is the product of a psychological contract between the brand and the consumer (Helicon, 2016). Loyalty consists of positive attitudes and preferences for brands leading to their consistent repurchase. Brand loyalty is an avenue for companies to develop long-term relationships with customers. As the cost of advertising has dramatically increased in recent years, marketers are increasingly turning to pricing and price related promotions as a means of influencing purchasing decisions by consumers (Krishnamurthi, 1991). While pricing has a significant impact, consumer preference is often a very difficult barrier to overcome even
The term “Brand Loyalty” also called as “Customer Loyalty” has been in the business industry since a very long time as a model to be used in conducting business. But it wasn’t until the mid to late 1900’s that the term was actually given its due importance by making it a vital part of advertising and marketing. The concept of marketing evolved substantially from being focused on sales of a product to having Customer satisfaction to be its focal point. Studies further revealed that there was a positive correlation between customer satisfaction and Brand Loyalty.
The Research topic: The impact of Customer Satisfaction on Brand Loyalty in the UK. The case study of Hilton Hotels and Resorts.