顾客满意是一回事，但与之相关的顾客忠诚在一些情况下却是另一回事。通常用购买重复来衡量顾客的品牌忠诚，也就是说，重复购买的次数越多，代表顾客的忠诚性也越高，考虑到顾客购买行为也受其它外界因素的影响（如垄断），因此忠诚在这里的含义与中文日常生活中的表达有所不同。
Catalina营销集团下属的Pointer传媒网络所做的调查分析指出，在衰退和经济危机时期，对于食品这类生活必须品而言，忠诚度下降的最明显。因而，零售商在此期间的明智做法可能就是从全国性品牌到私有或地区性品牌的转换。
本贴最后提供了Pointer传媒网络的相关分析报告的下载链接，读者可对照该分析报告进行深入分析阅读。
Recession takes bite out of brand loyalty: study
Mon Jun 22, 2009 8:42am EDT
By Lisa Baertlein
LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - The U.S. recession is taking a bite out of national brand loyalty in products ranging from Advil pain reliever and Green Giant frozen vegetables to Jif peanut butter, according to a study released on Monday.
Just four out of 10 brands held on to at least half of their highly loyal customers from 2007 to 2008, according to the study from Catalina Marketing Corp's CHKHDC.UL Pointer Media Network, which gathers purchasing data at 23,000 stores nationwide.
Retaining customers is a challenge for food sellers in any economy and keeping them in a weak economy can be even more difficult.
Forty-eight percent of highly loyal consumers stayed that way during the study period, while 19 percent reduced their loyalty and 33 percent completely defected to another brand in the same category in 2008, the research showed.
The study defined highly-loyal consumers as individuals who made 70 percent of more of their purchases with a single brand in a given product category.
The study authors said Coca-Cola Classic (KO.N: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz) is one of the nation's most successful brands. Even so, 25 percent of Classic Coke buyers were less loyal during the study period.
That compares with Procter & Gamble Co's (PG.N: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz) Crest toothpaste, which saw almost 59 percent of its highly loyal buyers become less committed.
This time around, retailers such as Kroger Co (KR.N: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz), Safeway Inc (SWY.N: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz) and Wal-Mart Stores Inc (WMT.N: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz) are aggressively expanding their own private labels. Those products often cost less than national brands and appeal to consumers looking to stretch every dollar.
The United States officially slid into recession in December 2007, but consumer spending was showing signs of weakening prior to the official start of the downturn.
When asked if the loyalty decline could intensify from 2008 to 2009, Catalina Marketing Vice President Todd Morris said: "It likely could."
WINNERS/LOSERS
The Pointer study was based on an analysis of the purchasing behavior of more than 32 million shoppers in 2007 and 2008 across 685 leading brands, Pointer said.
Catalina Marketing has a system that selects and prints coupons at checkout based on what a shopper buys. Full study results are available here: here
Other data from the study showed that Wyeth's (WYE.N: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz) Advil suffered a 7 percent drop in high loyals from 2007 to 2008. On the flip side, the number of people who were highly loyal to General Mills Inc's (GIS.N: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz) Cheerios brand rose 6 percent.
J.M. Smucker Co's (SJM.N: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz) Jif peanut butter lost 7 percent of its highly loyal customers from 2007 to 2008, while General Mills' Green Giant frozen boxed vegetables lost 9 percent.
(Reporting by Lisa Baertlein; editing by Andre Grenon)
source: <a href='http://www.reuters.com/article/business ... 22?sp=true' target='_blank'>http://www.reuters.com/article/business ... sp=true</a>
ref links:
<a href='http://cn.reuters.com/article/specialEv ... 1420090622' target='_blank'>http://cn.reuters.com/article/specialEv ... 0090622</a>
<a href='http://www.pointermedianetwork.com/tren ... tudies.php' target='_blank'>http://www.pointermedianetwork.com/tren ... ies.php</a>