Development of a conceptual framework for brand loyalty: A Euro-Mediterranean perspective

Abstract

Brand loyalty makes a critically valuable contribution to competitive advantage. High brand loyalty is an asset that lends itself to extension, high market share, high return on investment and ultimately high brand equity. The challenge for marketers is how to infl uence loyalty. Marketers have rushed to develop so-called loyalty schemes, but do not always appear to have considered the key elements of why consumers remain loyal to a brand. Brand loyalty has been one of the most discussed and most misunderstood marketing concepts of recent years; therefore, it is clearly a good time to revisit the concept of brand loyalty. First, a loyal customer and a satisfi ed customer are not necessarily the same thing. Customers may remain loyal for a number of reasons and may not even be happy with the product or service. A lack of customer defections does not necessarily indicate satisfi ed consumers. From the design of a new product to the extension of a mature brand, effective marketing strategies depend on a thorough understanding of the motivation, learning, memory and decision processes that infl uence what consumers buy. Subsequently, the issue of brand loyalty has been examined at great length in this article with a (1992) too suggests that brand loyalty leads to brand equity, which leads to business profi tability. Brand loyalty makes a critically valuable contribution to

Determinants of Brand Loyalty: A Study of the Experience-Commitment-Loyalty Constructs

“…The concept of brand loyalty has been recognised as an important construct in the marketing literature for at least four decades (Howard and Sheth, 1969), and most researchers agree that brand loyalty can create firm benefits such as reduced marketing costs (Chaudhuri and Holbrook, 2001), positive word of mouth (Sutikno, 2011), business profitability (Kabiraj and Shanmugan, 2011), increased market share (Gounaris and Stathakopoulos, 2004) and a competitive advantage in the market (Iglesias et al, 2011). These benefits clearly reveals the positive impact brand loyalty can have on a firm, and as such, Khan and Mahmood (2012, p. 33) suggested a definition that reflected these benefits in an efficient manner, by stating that "brand loyalty can be defined as the customer's unconditional commitment and a strong relationship with the brand, which is not likely to be affected under normal circumstances".…”

“…This disagreement, especially regarding the lack of a common brand loyalty measure, can be the cause of great confusion, and evidently, invalid data. However, Newman and Werbel (1973;cited in Kabiraj and Shanmugan, 2011, p. 289) argued that in order for brand loyalty measures to be valuable for marketers, the measures should contain the consumer's unwillingness to switch brands. Presuming that this statement is correct, brand commitment is a valid brand loyalty measure.…”

“…At this time, brand loyalty was measured using factors such as purchase sequences, percentage of total purchases, and purchase probability (Kumar and Advani, 2005;Kabiraj and Shanmugan, 2011;Iglesias et al, 2011). This notion led to a focus on price, functionality, and quality when marketing products and services, with the expectation that customers would develop a repeated purchase pattern if these factors met the customer's criteria.…”

Customer relationship management as a source of companies competitiveness in changing environment

“…Zbog značaja koju lojalnost kupaca ima za razvoj održive konkurentske prednosti, mnoge kompanije povećava-ju nivo lojalnosti kupaca primenom koncepta upravljanja odnosima sa kupcima (Kabirg & Shanmugan, 2011, str. 287), koji je progresivno prihvaćeo kao osnovna strategija u koju svetske kompanije počinju da investiraju značajna sredstva (Maggon & Chandhry, 2015, str.…”

Strategic brand management as the factor of company competitiveness

“…Tvorac koncepta brend orijentacije Urde definiše orijentaciju prema brendu kao "pristup u kome su organizacioni procesi usmereni kreiranju, razvoju i zaštiti identiteta brenda kroz kontinuirane interakcije sa targentiranim potrošačima sa ciljem postizanja dugoročne konkurentske prednosti u obliku brendova". 84 Ova definicija se 83 Wong, H. Y., B. Merrilees. 2007.…”