When it comes to brand loyalty, are we mercenaries? Loyalists? Cultists?
Or maybe we’re just lazy?
With major brands spending billions of dollars each year using various strategies to build and keep brand loyalty, these questions are important.
Recently-published consumer research by Maritz Motivation Solutions and Wise Marketer Group seeks to get to the nub of the issue.
Maritz/Wise surveyed nearly 2,100 American adults age 18 and over via online questionnaires and consumer research panels. The respondents were filtered to include purchase decision-makers or key influencers within one or more of six major consumer categories:
- Airline travel
- Banking services
- Credit card services
- Hotels/lodging
- Restaurants
- Specialty retails
The results of the research reveal that brand loyalty isn’t one monolithic mindset, but consumers tend to fall into one of four categories, as follows:
- “Mercenaries” – Loyal to brands that pay them to be loyal: ~55% of respondents
- “True loyalists” – Stay true to a brand because people connect with it above and beyond any explicit incentives to do so: ~30%
- “Sloths” – Can’t be bothered to switch brands due to inertia: ~8%
- “Cultists” – The brand represents their personal identity: ~7%
What the Maritz/Wise research also tells us is where people come down on brand loyalty attributes is based more on attitudinal characteristics than something that can be segmented easily based on conventional demographics.
In other words, brand loyalty characteristics aren’t driven by age, gender or income level; mercenaries and cultists are found in their expected proportions across the spectrum of loyalty.
In another finding, when it comes to the “transactional” nature of brand loyalty, the research discovered that the “art of the deal” is based on money.
Gift cards, cash-back and credits are overwhelmingly preferred forms of reward for brand loyalty – and these apply to everyone no matter where they may land on the brand loyalty spectrum.
So, the next time we hear the old saw that “money can’t buy love” … we all know that the truth is a bit more nuanced.
Nones Notes 