Brand Loyalty and Neuromarketing
The meaning and scope of “loyalty” have undergone considerable change, much like most of the ideas and assumptions we grew used to before the digital age.
Several voices even argue for abandoning the pursuit of brand “loyalty” altogether, for reasons ranging from heavy investments that never delivered the expected return, to loyalty programs that simply failed to drive sales.
From Repeat Purchases to Experience
Until recently, “loyalty” was understood — and largely limited to — repeat purchases: as constant and frequent as possible, and that was the whole story.
The idea centered almost entirely on the transactional: loyalty programs where every ninth purchase earned a free tenth item, or simple discount coupons. In principle, both sides — brands and consumers — walked away satisfied, ready to start a new cycle on the same basis, in the same format, repeating with little real differentiation.
But the concept of “loyalty” in the digital age has taken on very different connotations from those it had when the brand-consumer relationship was fundamentally built on physical presence — and that shift now demands a different response from brands.
There are growing signs that consumers are no longer fully satisfied with the old model’s solutions, and that they expect something more than a purely transactional relationship. Increasingly, consumers link “loyalty” to brands that deliver a remarkable experience — consistently, over time, and above all, one that adds real value to the relationship.
So how do you “deliver” a better experience to the consumer? What should brands pay attention to so that this delivery meets these new expectations and translates into the loyalty they’re after?
From Consumers to Brand Advocates
The idea is to move beyond transactions and cultivate active attitudes and behaviors among consumers — turning them into brand “advocates,” “enthusiasts” and “promoters.”
These are consumers who defend, publicize and recommend the brand to acquaintances, coworkers, family — and, above all, on social media. Consumers who, in return for the experience they received and in appreciation for the product or service, spontaneously start praising, sharing and commenting positively about the brand.
In other words, this still-emerging kind of “loyalty” happens when consumers go beyond the simple purchase and naturally take on an active role, with concrete, spontaneous actions directed at the brand.
Unlike the conventional “one-to-one” effect, what emerges here is “one-to-hundreds,” “-thousands,” perhaps even “-millions,” given the exponential reach of social media.
Three Pillars: Relevance, Utility and Purpose
Brands essentially need to work on three fronts to give consumers a better, more memorable experience: **relevance**, **utility** and **purpose**.
**Relevance** comes from a brand’s understanding of the customer journey — making decisions easier for consumers and offering them what’s already known to interest them, using big data as the underlying platform. Think of Amazon or Netflix suggesting new products based on past preferences, or on what large numbers of other people are choosing right now. The examples don’t stop there — they extend to Booking.com, Airbnb, iFood, Uber, international publications, and countless other active brands already operating under this model.
Delivering simple experiences that align with each consumer’s own history — making the choice easier for someone “lost” among countless options — is a powerful driver of sales growth and a key part of consolidating loyalty.
**Utility** means using the resources the digital medium offers so the consumer experience isn’t just interesting, but also easier, more pleasant, and genuinely solves problems or removes friction. Experiences that achieve this add value, retain customers, and can even be fun — like the ASOS app, which identifies similar clothing items from photos, or lets customers try on clothes at home for free. Or like certain hotels, where guests can review their bill online from their room, authorize the charge, and skip the checkout line entirely — combining simplicity with convenience. The examples keep multiplying: mobile boarding passes, hotel rooms that need no physical key or check-in, one-tap buttons that reorder your last pizza — all speeding up the process.
**Purpose** is about how brands reveal what they are, what they think, and what they value. While many of these initiatives predate the digital age, today’s tools have given them far greater visibility and reach. The goal is to strengthen the relationship, reinforce values, and build consumer identification with those ideals — enough to justify a purchase because it makes people feel like better versions of themselves, contributing to causes worth supporting.
A few examples: Patagonia and responsible consumption, or recycling used gear; Airbnb’s special program supporting victims of natural disasters, like the Florida hurricane; Adidas’ “Team Messi” campaign (across Twitter, Facebook and Instagram), where 94% of participants were new to the brand and now spend an average of €10 in e-commerce.
But like almost everything, it’s a double-edged sword. Success in this strategy can take a brand to new heights, with far deeper loyalty — but a misstep can mean losing consumers, eroding the brand, and sliding right back into purely transactional territory.
The Research Challenge
That leaves research with a real challenge: how do you measure the type, quality and intensity of the experience delivered to the consumer? How do you assess whether that experience actually had an impact — and whether it translates into future purchases?
Some answers can come from conventional market research techniques, but it’s clear there are limitations, and a need for deeper answers. Simple scales like “yes/no” or “good/average/very poor” aren’t the most adequate metrics — they don’t allow for much progress in evaluating experience, even if they’re a relevant starting point.
Neuromarketing, paired with conventional research, already offers techniques and tools to dig deeper into most of these questions. In the end, the answers being sought come down to evaluating the reactions these experiences trigger: at what point they were impactful, how they stood apart from the competition, and to what extent they produced lasting effects.
Neuromarketing-based responses tend to be more accurate precisely because they’re not based on rational or self-reported answers, but on spontaneous, instinctive emotional reactions to these stimuli and experiences.
That’s why these metrics are far more sensitive and credible — both because of the precision of the technical tools involved, and because of most people’s well-documented difficulty in accurately describing their own feelings or emotions.
The truth is, many of us don’t even know how to properly interpret our own emotions — let alone describe them or put a number on them. That’s exactly why neuromarketing can, and should, be used more and more often.
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*Reference: Amy Brown, “Rethinking ‘Loyalty’ in the Age of Digital,” Admap, November 2017.*