Hispanics High on Loyalty: Study
CINCINNATI - A surprisingly high percentage of young adults and middle-income Hispanics identify themselves as loyalty program participants, according to new research released by loyalty marketing consultancy COLLOQUY here.
With over 40 percent participation in loyalty programs for each segment, these consumers are aware of the loyalty game and have their antennae up looking for value. COLLOQUY predicted upside growth of activity in loyalty marketing to both segments as retailers, e-commerce Web sites and telecom programs drive participation.
Despite the media hype about loyalty programs featuring charity rewards, including gifting to pro-environment causes, consumers across all demographic groups are "me" oriented when it comes to redemption, according to the study. Nine out of 10 redeemers reported themselves as the primary beneficiary of their redemption events. Redeemers cited family members as a primary recipient less than 20 percent of the time for all consumer segments except women and the affluent. Among redeemers, the "me" factor far outweighs the "we" factor.
A dramatic gap exists between consumers' desire for the special access and member-only privileges associated with loyalty offers, and the delivery of these "soft benefits" by loyalty program operators.
Seventy-three percent of Hispanics rated soft benefits as extremely important, but only 17 percent could actually confirm delivery of such benefits. For women, the gap numbers are 64 percent vs. 14 percent. The benefits are either absent or invisible to consumers. Seniors are the exception, with just 47 percent identifying preferential treatment as important.
"In an era of loyalty saturation, brand marketers want to know what to do to differentiate their programs and combat consumer fatigue," said COLLOQUY director Kelly Hlavinka. "They need to make a concerted effort to collect demographic, lifestyle, and attitudinal information and merge it with their transactional databases. With each customer carrying a unique set of values, those marketers who use data to deliver relevant rewards, relevant recognition benefits and relevant communications will capture customer engagement, spend and advocacy."
COLLOQUY is offering more results from the recent demographics research in a white paper titled "Segment Talk: The Difference Engine - A Comparison of Loyalty Marketing Perceptions Among Specific U.S. Consumer Segments." The paper is available free of charge at: http://www.colloquy.com/whitepapers.
With over 40 percent participation in loyalty programs for each segment, these consumers are aware of the loyalty game and have their antennae up looking for value. COLLOQUY predicted upside growth of activity in loyalty marketing to both segments as retailers, e-commerce Web sites and telecom programs drive participation.
Despite the media hype about loyalty programs featuring charity rewards, including gifting to pro-environment causes, consumers across all demographic groups are "me" oriented when it comes to redemption, according to the study. Nine out of 10 redeemers reported themselves as the primary beneficiary of their redemption events. Redeemers cited family members as a primary recipient less than 20 percent of the time for all consumer segments except women and the affluent. Among redeemers, the "me" factor far outweighs the "we" factor.
A dramatic gap exists between consumers' desire for the special access and member-only privileges associated with loyalty offers, and the delivery of these "soft benefits" by loyalty program operators.
Seventy-three percent of Hispanics rated soft benefits as extremely important, but only 17 percent could actually confirm delivery of such benefits. For women, the gap numbers are 64 percent vs. 14 percent. The benefits are either absent or invisible to consumers. Seniors are the exception, with just 47 percent identifying preferential treatment as important.
"In an era of loyalty saturation, brand marketers want to know what to do to differentiate their programs and combat consumer fatigue," said COLLOQUY director Kelly Hlavinka. "They need to make a concerted effort to collect demographic, lifestyle, and attitudinal information and merge it with their transactional databases. With each customer carrying a unique set of values, those marketers who use data to deliver relevant rewards, relevant recognition benefits and relevant communications will capture customer engagement, spend and advocacy."
COLLOQUY is offering more results from the recent demographics research in a white paper titled "Segment Talk: The Difference Engine - A Comparison of Loyalty Marketing Perceptions Among Specific U.S. Consumer Segments." The paper is available free of charge at: http://www.colloquy.com/whitepapers.