When I transitioned from academia to industry research, I often got asked how I could apply my subject matter expertise as a relationship scientist to my work. My response usually was to say that I didn't bring in my subject matter expertise, but rather my research process expertise to my work outside of the academy. That changed recently when I was asked to explore global loyalty program engagement for my company.
Companies will often employ a loyalty program to build and maintain meaningful relationships with their consumer base. It is a way for consumers to feel connected to the brand, to build trust with the brand, and to build excitement about engaging with that brand. It is also a way for a brand to differentiate itself in the marketplace by creating loyalty experiences that are unique. It would make sense, then, that we might consider measuring the success of a loyalty program through the lens of relationship science research.
The goal of relationship science research is to understand what makes relationships healthy or unhealthy, to understand motivations for and perceptions of behavior within a relationship, and to explore interventions to improve relational well-being. Businesses often have many of the same goals:
How satisfied are our consumers with our brand and digital products?
How can we increase return visits to our digital products?
How can we increase engagement with our marketing content?
How can we build consumer trust?
How will a major change to our platforms impact consumers relationships?
Many of these questions can be answered through the measurement of relationship variables over time (e.g., consumer sentiment, relationship satisfaction, or brand loyalty), through consumer testing of brand changes, through experiments designed to measure changes in these measures pre- and post-exposure to a brand or digital experience change, and through regular product benchmarking. What we measure is often ambiguous and difficult to define. This can be solved through the utilization of concepts and measures that have been validated in a relationship science space (of course, with re-validation needed in the business space).
One example of utilizing relationship science research to more effectively understand brand loyalty is through measuring the elements of the Investment Model of Commitment. Traditionally used to understand commitment in romantic relationships, it states that one's commitment is predicted by: 1) Relationship Satisfaction, or the ratio of effort given to a partner compared to a partner's effort in return - feeling like your relationship is of good quality and meets your needs; 2) Relationship Investment, or feeling like it would be hard to start over because of how much you have given to the relationship (e.g., relationship length, money spent, assets shared); and 3) Quality of Alternatives, is there someone out there who can better meet your needs than your current partner can.
These ideas can be employed to better understand brand loyalty, or how committed a consumer is to maintaining a relationship with a brand. If you think back to the goals of a loyalty program, many of these variables are similarly relevant in this space:
Relationship Satisfaction: We want to make sure we are meeting the needs and demands of consumers. We want them to feel like they are on the receiving end of effort from the brand (and not just spending and engaging to receive nothing in return). We want them to feel like they like our brand.
Relationship Investment: The longer a consumer has been interacting with a brand, the more opportunity there is to reward them. When consumers feel like a brand rewards them for longevity, they are more likely to want to re-engage and come back. They might also be more likely to make referrals.
Quality of Alternatives: We want it to be hard for consumers to look elsewhere to get their needs met. Compared to other brands, we want to stand out as being the best solution for them. We want consumers to trust us more than any other brand.
Understanding how we can intentionally impact these three elements of brand loyalty can set your brand up to cultivate more meaningful consumer relationships. In my study, I specifically examined how different elements of credit card company's loyalty program's digital experience predicted changes in these relationship elements within and across five geographic regions.
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