Researchers at Texas State University wanted to identify ways to iron out such irregularities so that a retailer’s initiatives to improve customer service would directly increase loyalty. The process they conclude works well is to move the shopper from pleasant experiences on to emotional attachment.
Pleasant experiences at the store are necessary, but not sufficient. Emotional attachment comes when customers frequently think about those pleasant experiences. Get your customers to stick around by making the store personality sticky for them. The researchers verified that doing this does, indeed, increase return business intentions.
Consistency in delivery builds emotional attachment. However, consistency doesn’t mean boring. Regularly seek ways to personalize services which track the inevitable changes in your target audiences.
Researchers at Neoma Business School in France and University of Gafsa in Tunisia measured emotional attachment at retail by asking consumers the degree to which they agreed with these four statements:
- I am very attached to this store.
- I feel this store is a part of me.
- I feel like there is a bond between me and this store’s personnel.
- No other place can compare to this store.
A major finding of the studies was that a store’s target audience is composed of people who have widely varying degrees of interest in forming an emotional attachment with a retail store. For those seeking such attachment, birthday cards and invitations to special events could satisfy the desire. But those same techniques are likely to alienate shoppers who are pleased to give a retailer business, yet fear the commitments associated with an emotional attachment.
This caution is consistent with the finding from University of California-Riverside, Boston College, and Southern Methodist University researchers that there are fewer repurchases from customers who say they’ve been thanked too much by the retailer, and this tipping point is different for different customers.
For those not wanting emotional attachments, improving customer service may have little effect on building customer loyalty. This isn’t license to neglect service, but instead a caution not to count on a net financial profit from it.
This caution is consistent with the finding from University of California-Riverside, Boston College, and Southern Methodist University researchers that there are fewer repurchases from customers who say they’ve been thanked too much by the retailer, and this tipping point is different for different customers.
For those not wanting emotional attachments, improving customer service may have little effect on building customer loyalty. This isn’t license to neglect service, but instead a caution not to count on a net financial profit from it.
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