Effect of loyalty programs on customer loyalty: insights from experts literature and findings

Abstract

Due to the complexity that has been experienced in customer retention organizations have been forced to craft strategies that can be employed to keep the customers longer. A number of papers relating to relationship marketing in service and retail industry were identified from journal databases pertaining to relationship marketing and a bit of customer relationship management with bias to bonding. These papers were identified by examining the table of contents of the leading journals followed by a scrutiny of the key words used in each paper in the journal. The literature search included journals published by numerous publishers, for the period 2013–2019. These papers were filtered on the basis of their focus and the dates of publication. After this process, there were approximately 18 papers whose copies were collected and formed a basis of this review. A number of outcomes were identified. The results revealed that loyalty programs had significant effect on Customer loyalty. The relationship between loyalty programs and customer loyalty developed in this paper is expected to contribute to the existing body of social bonding strategies and management literature in terms of exploring the nature of relationships. The management will use the findings of this study to guide them in understanding customer behaviour. Furthermore, the findings of this research will be source of reference for the academicians who intend to carry out studies in relation to the subject of social bonds and customer loyalty in retail firms and related organizations. The study recommends that supermarket management should put more emphasis on loyalty programs strategies since they influence Customer loyalty.