Loyalty programmes have taken off across the commercial realm in recent years. Shopping in a supermarket? “Do you have your Clubcard? Don’t forget to scan.” Filling up your car with petrol? “Do you have the app? Would you like to use your points?” Checking into a hotel? “Are you a member? Do you want to join?” They are a way for businesses to identify and retain valuable customers, and to strengthen brand loyalty. Green loyalty programmes (GLPs) are emerging as a powerful tool to encourage environmentally responsible behaviour from customers. They provide both monetary and nonmonetary rewards for those who optin. For example, IHG Hotels and Resorts’ Greener Stay initiative provides 500 IHG reward points for every night scheme members opt out of housekeeping services; Starbucks rewards you for bringing in your own coffee mug rather than using one of their disposable cups. But what drives consumers to participate? And how can businesses design them to be both effective and appealing? Our work looks at the psychology behind GLPs. We explore how personality traits and emotional responses affect whether people want to join them in the first place, as well as how messaging and the types of rewards on offer can affect behaviours. We carried out surveys and experiments with Chinese nationals, placing them in scenarios where they were asked to join a GLP at check-in by a hotel employee, and in a situation where they chose between two different rewards on offer from a GLP – one environmentally friendly, and the other less so but more in keeping with how they had gained the rewards in the first place. THE CUSTOMER MINDSET A key part of our research is the concept of psychological reactance. This is a person’s tendency to resist perceived threats to their behavioural freedom. Some customers, particularly those with high trait reactance, are naturally sceptical of programmes that seem to limit their choices or impose behavioural expectations. This can be a significant barrier to participation in loyalty programmes, which can restrict customers’ actions by requiring them to undertake specific activities to collect reward points, and to use the specific suppliers on each occasion. For GLPs, which often require customers to take specific actions (such as reusing towels or opting out of housekeeping), the restrictions can be even greater. Our work shows that this resistance is not insurmountable. 32 |
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