Essay - The Future of Marketing: Brand Loyalty Background 1994 Report on...

The Future of Marketing: Brand Loyalty

Background

***** report on marketing described an ********** paradigm shift from the old 4P model of marketing, to a newer model based on relationship marketing. The report describes how evolving trends in bus*****ess such as "the globalization of business and ***** evolving recognition of the importance of customer retention and marketing economies and of customer ***** economics, among other trends, reinforce the change in mainstream marketing" (Gronroos 10). ***** other major factor that has driven the change is ***** r*****e of services marketing, which requires a different ********** than traditional product marketing.

The shift to relationship ***** is described saying, "a shift is clearly taking place from marketing to anonymous masses of customer, to developing and managing relationships with more or less well-known or at least somehow identified cus*****mers" (Groonroos 22).

One method ***** creating this relationship between the customer and the company is by brand building and creating brand loyalty.

***** King argues ***** point ***** that in the increasingly competitive and rapidly changing business world "it becomes increasingly difficult to sustain an objective comparative advantage over one's competitors so it will become ***** important to pos*****ion organizations as '*****s' in ***** m*****ds of actual and potential *****s" (King 3).

***** to King, in the f*****t-paced business world, brand building ***** ***** only way to create a st*****ble long-term demand for any product or service, the only way ***** add value to attract customers, and the ***** way to maintain profitable margins (***** 5).

***** current pace of change is especially rapid in the ecommerce market. A recent study on brand loyalty ***** this market shows how the ideas about ***** loyalty are changing. The ***** provides the usual definition of brand loyalty as being "the minimum price differential needed be*****e consumers who prefer one brand switch to some competing brand" (Chen & Hitt 5). Brand ***** is also described as being due to "real *****ing costs, decision bi*****es, uncertainty about the quality ***** other *****s, or other psychological issues ***** drive customers' seemingly 'unreasonable' behavi*****s" (Chen & Hitt 5).

This study then continues to apply these past ideas on brand loyalty to *****. ***** findings of the study are that even though the barriers ***** switching ***** providers is minimal in ecommerce, ***** loyalty still exists in *****. It was ***** found ***** 70 percent of CD and book shoppers were loyal to just ***** site (***** & Hitt 6).

***** recent survey by AARP reported that 91 percent of consumers care ***** ***** value than brand name, that 71 percent use past experience to decide whether to purchase a br*****nd or not, and that ********** percent also include ***** as an important characteristic impacting their decision-making (AARP).

The discrepancy in this data is that while 91 percent of customers report that they ***** more about value ***** br*****, ***** percent of book and CD purchasers repurchase from the same provider even if ********** are available cheaper elsewhere. In th***** case, the