Temporal Orientation and Customer Loyalty Programs

Abstract

Loyalty programs play a prominent role in many firms’ customer relationship management programs, but not all programs are successful. Providers need to understand not only what benefits customers want in a program, but also how they want to be treated as a loyalty member. We posit that because loyalty programs offer rewards that are time-bound (immediate or delayed), and that loyalty programs seek to develop a relationship that extends over time, an important, but overlooked dimension for hospitality managers to consider is how their customers view time. Our research focuses on customers’ temporal orientation—the tendency to think in the present, future, or past. We use depth interviews to explore existing casino loyalty program participants’ thoughts and feelings about their ideal loyalty program. We find the customers’ temporal orientation influences the type of relationship as well as the type of benefits sought in the loyalty program. Our research offers managerially practical insights for identifying customers more likely to engage in co-production of a long-term loyalty relationship as well as for creating communication strategies that are likely to interest and provoke different temporal mindsets.