Improving Coverage of Travel Customer Loyalty Programs

Year 2024, Volume: 25 Issue: 25, 71 - 93, 30.12.2024

Ronald Larson

Abstract

To make sound decisions using customer data, travel and tourism marketers need quality information on all buyer segments. Individuals who belong to many loyalty programs may join more programs and are probably over-represented in databases. This research identifies the factors associated with widespread participation in frequent traveler and retail shopper programs with a national survey of US adults (N=1399) to identify factors associated with having more memberships. The ordered probit regression results for both types of programs were compared. Individuals with a future-focus, higher impulsivity, and more education tended to have more memberships in both program classes. Those with a today-focus, lower impulsivity, and less education tended to have fewer memberships and could be targeted with incentives to boost database coverage. Differences in results for the two types of programs suggest that loyalty membership studies need to be specific to the travel and tourism industries.

Keywords

Frequent Traveler, Guest Loyalty, Marketing Database Coverage, Impulsivity, Time Preferences, Privacy Concerns, Retail Customers

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