Loyal Customers vs. Habitual Customers – There is a difference

There is no one single definition for brand loyalty (Kyner & Jaccoby 1973). However from an operational perspective it can be seen as a sequence of “AABAACAADAAE” would qualify a customer as being loyal to brand A, according to the percentage of purchase (Kyner & Jaccoby 1973). Another view of brand loyalty claims that it occurs because consumers preceive that the brand offers the right product features, images, or quality levels at the right price (Schiffman et al. 2014).

In my opinion the main difference between a loyal customer and a habitual one, is that habitual customers tend to choose another brand if it captures there interest. While loyal customers stick to one single brand. For example, sportswear is one of the most competitive retail branches, where brands such as Nike, Adidas, Reebok etc. heavily compete among each others to gain customer’s loyalty.

From my personal  experience I find myself a loyal customer to Nike, as all my sports clothes are from Nike. When comparing myself to other close friends and family, I find that all of them do like Nike, and find that its a very good quality product with awesome attributes. However they would not mind buying an Adidas shoes, and they are usually tempted by the advertisement campaign of a certain product or the price. this purchasing behavior place them in the segment of habitual customers rather than loyal customers.

Why am I a loyal customer to Nike?

Brand loyalty can be identified in four stages: Cognitive where loyalty to information such as price and features is present, affective where loyalty is to a liking, conative where loyalty is all about commitment and intention, and action where loyalty is about overcoming obstacles (Schiffman et al. 2014). So when I ask myself the question of why I am loyal to Nike? the answer lies in these following points:

• Self-Brand congruence: Consumers tend to choose brands whose image are congruent with their own images (Demir & Koksal 2012).  I believe that Nike symbolize some human qualities such as innovation, reliability, and awesomeness. Thus Nike gains meaning for me as consumers, so it is more identical with my self-image (Demir & Koksal 2012).
• Commitment: In marketing terms, commitment is defined as the eagerness to continue the relationship with a particular brand (Demir & Koksal 2012). I always find myself committed to buying Nike stuff. For example, around 6 months ago I per-ordered one of the new-released ‘Nike Roshe’ shoes, and the was the third edition of this particular shoes, which I have been wearing for the past three years.
•   Brand Partner quality: brand partner quality is a person’s evaluation of the brand’s performance in its partnership role, and relates to the quality of the brand and the reliability of the brand’s messages (Demir & Koksal 2012).  Nike always stresses on the motivational and self-esteem part in it advertisement campaigns, for example the ‘Just Do It’ slogan provides people with motivation to do sports and train. However Nike does provide quality and reliability in their products, which aligns with their slogan.

 

Reference list:

Jacoby, J. and Kyner, D. (1973). Brand Loyalty vs. Repeat Purchasing Behavior. Journal of Marketing Research, 10(1), p.1.

Koksal, C.D. and Demir M.O. (2012). THE IMPACTS OF SELF-BRAND CONGRUENCE ON BRAND LOYALTY: A STUDY ON CELLULAR PHONE USERS. Journal of Social Sciences and Humanity Studies, vol 4, no.2, pp. 91-100.

Schiffman, L., O’Cass, A., Paladino, A. and Carlson, J. (2014). Consumer Behaviour. 6th ed. Pearson Australia Group, Frenchs Forest NSW.

Cognitive Dissonance; How to Reduce it, From a Buyer’s and Marketer’s Perspective

 

 

 

Cognitive dissonance which is known as discomfort or disruption, occurs when a customer carries contradicting thoughts about a belief or an attitude object (Schiffman et al. 2014, pp. 268). There are three ways of reducing this dissonance: removing irregular cognitions, adding harmonious  cognitions, or reducing the importance of the dissonant cognitions (Telci, Maden and Kantur, 2011).

I experienced cognitive dissonance when I was seeking to replace my old phone with a new one. Having a positive attitude towards the ‘iPhone’ as a result  of direct experience with the product and positive word-of-mouth (Shciffman et al. 2014), I was tempted to pre-order the recently released ‘iPhone 7’. Based on the fact that similar products such as ‘Samsung’ and ‘Google’ have different functional performance attributes offered at a lower price, My post-purchase dissonance was triggered (Telci, Maden and Kantur, 2011).

Reducing/avoiding post-purchase dissonance from a buyer’s perspective(myself):

The level of involvement with a product influences post-purchase evaluations. High expectations prior to purchase lead to more favorable evaluations after the decision have been made in the case of a high involvement product (Telci, Maden and Kantur, 2011). Even though the purchase of an ‘iPhone 7’ is accompanied by high expectations, as a reason of the high quality and reliability offered by Apple. I made sure not to get carried away by high expectations.

As mentioned before cognitive dissonance is not only related to the importance of a certain product, but it is also heavily linked to the functional performance attributes offered by substitute products (Telci, Maden and Kantur, 2011). Thus, the wise thing to do was to conduct an extensive research and evaluate all other smart phones offered in the market, by comparing and contrasting there performance, features, quality, and reliability. Then based on the outcome of the research one should choose the best alternative.

Other strategies that I have used in order to reduce the dissonance at the time of pre-ordering the ‘iPhone 7’ were; looking to known satisfied owners of an iPhone such as family members and friends for reassurance and I also managed to act a sales agent, by selling friends and family members on the positive features of the ‘iPhone 7’ (Shciffman et al. 2014).

Reducing post-purchase dissonance from a marketer’s perspective:

Studies have shown that there are three cognitive dissonance consumer segments: High-dissonance segment, a low dissonance segment, and a concern about needing the purchase segment (Shciffman et al. 2014). So for marketers to successfully reduce post-purchase dissonance, they should know under which segment the target customer falls (Telci, Maden and Kantur, 2011). The target market of apple is usually a young and knowledgeable segment, which is found to be more likely to experience high levels of cognitive dissonance, as a reason of their high involvement and expectations (Telci, Maden and Kantur, 2011). There are many ways to counter cognitive dissonance, however the most effective strategy implemented by marketers is to change attitudes (UKessays, 2017). An effective strategy for changing customers attitudes towards a product or brand is to make particular needs prominent, by using a functional approach and relying on the knowledge function in Apple’s case (Shciffman et al. 2014).

One of the most ‘iPhone 7’ advertisements which had an effect on reducing my cognitive dissonance, was an advertisement which highlighted on all the features of the ‘iPhone 7’. The advertisement made me aware that the ‘iPhone 7’ is water and dust proof, which is something significant to me since all my previous phones were damaged from a water leak. Moreover, the advertisement highlighted on other special features, such as the quality of the camera and a more durable home button. At this point I was convinced that my decision to purchase an ‘iPhone 7’ out of all the other alternatives is the right and most convenient choice.

 

 

Reference list:

Schiffman, L., O’Cass, A., Paladino, A. and Carlson, J. (2014). Consumer Behaviour. 6th ed. Pearson Australia Group, Frenchs Forest NSW.

Telci, E., Maden, C. and Kantur, D. (2011). The theory of cognitive dissonance: A marketing and management perspective. Procedia – Social and Behavioral Sciences, 24, pp.378-386.

UKEssays. (2017). Cognitive dissonance theory and attitude changes. [online] Available at: https://www.ukessays.com/essays/psychology/cognitive-dissonance-theory-and-attitude-changes-psychology-essay.php [Accessed 2 May 2017].

 

 

Positive Experience with Emirates Airlines

 

 

Emirates Airlines are considered as one of the top airlines world-wide since it offers the best air services to passengers.

A year ago I booked a flight with emirates airlines from Sydney to Beirut. the flight included to change planes in Dubai International airport, and as stated on the ticket the layover time was 2 hours.

The plane arrived late to Dubai International airport and those who were travelling to Beirut missed the connecting flight. What made the situation even worse is that we knew that our next flight to Beirut would be in 12 hours. It was really frustrating  knowing that we have to wait an additional 12 hours at an airport.

Five minutes later we were contacted by one of the senior members of the emirates airline crew. First he discussed the matter for us and apologized for the inconvenience, then he offered us free access the emirates premium lounge at the airport, our seats were upgraded from economy to business class, and we were offered to carry and additional luggage for our next/returning flight with emirates airlines.

Usually booking with Emirates Airlines is accompanied with high customer service, comfort and reliability expectations. However complications are always expected and it is how they responded to these complications, which converted a negative experience to be a positive one, and gained our loyalty and positive word of mouth.