This article critically examines consumer-brand relationships from the perspective of interpersonal relationship theory. Specifically, the authors investigate the relationship between brand experience and the two components of brand loyalty, namely purchase brand loyalty and attitudinal brand loyalty. The study also examines the link between brand experience and brand relationship variables, brand trust, brand attachment and brand commitment. In addition, the mediating role of brand personality and brand commitment in the relationship between brand experience and brand loyalty is investigated. Drawing on the results of an empirical cross-brand study from three product categories, the authors demonstrate that brand experience, brand personality and brand relationship variables (brand attachment and brand commitment) all affect the degree to which a consumer is loyal to a brand. On the basis of the findings, the authors offer guidelines to managers on how to build and sustain purchase and attitudinal brand loyalty by enhancing brand experience. The theoretical and managerial significance of the findings together with directions for future research are discussed.

a b s t r a c tIn this paper, the authors identify the elements that encompass customer experience touch points. This research was based on a qualitative research approach, using a sequential incident technique to guide the data collection. An inductive thematic analysis of the semi-structure interview transcripts, collected from customer narratives of experiences with retailers, was employed to identify distinct elements of customer experience touch points. The findings uncovered seven distinct elements of customer experience touch points, which include; atmospheric, technological, communicative, process, employee-customer interaction, customer-customer interaction and product interaction elements. The findings highlight that multichannel retail touch points are made up of varying combinations of the identified elements. The study offers a comprehensive understanding of customer experience; one that will help retailers to orchestrate the customer experience at individual touch points.

Purpose The purpose of this paper is threefold: first, to examine the effects of different touch points on customer experience, second, effects of customer experience on loyalty intentions, and actual spend, and third, the moderating role of motivation orientation on these effects. Design/methodology/approach By recognizing the importance of capturing customer experience assessments at the “time of the experience”, a smartphone technology mobile app was developed for the purpose of this study. Real time customer experience data were collected at individual touch points. Findings The results show that the real-time touch point evaluations significantly effect overall customer experience and that these effects significantly differ for utilitarian and hedonic motivation orientations. The effects of technology, atmospherics, employee–customer interaction and service/product interaction touch points on overall customer experience are significantly stronger for hedonic orientation than for utilitarian orientation. In contrast, the effect of process touch point on overall customer experience is significantly stronger for utilitarian than hedonic orientation. Also, favorable overall customer experience evaluations exert significant positive influence on loyalty intentions, and actual spend, and these influences are significantly stronger for consumers with hedonic than utilitarian motivation orientations. Practical implications The findings of this study will enable companies to manage customer experience programs effectively by providing an understanding of the distinct touch points that occur along the customer journey and the relative importance of each of these touch points in enhancing customer experience. Originality/value This is the first empirical study that offers important insights on the effects of different touch points on customer experience, and on the moderating role of consumer motivation orientations on the touch points – customer experience – loyalty link by using real-time data.

Hierarchical loyalty programs are being operated currently by many firms to improve customer relationships. While past work has demonstrated the negative effects of status demotion in such programs, research on how these effects may vary across different customer group based on payment source is almost nonexistent. This paper examines the moderating role of payment source ('own money' versus 'others money') on the effects of status demotion on customer attitudes and behavior in hierarchical loyalty programs. Analysis of data collected from members of airline loyalty programs show that the negative effects of status demotion on customer attitudes, loyalty intentions, and share-of-wallet are stronger for demoted 'own money' customers than for demoted 'others money' customers. The study provides a deeper insight about the effects of status demotion and points out that firms could possibly be endangering the loyalty of many potentially valuable customers, in particular among the 'own money' customer group.

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