How to Sustain Customer Loyalty towards Brands - Essay Example

The researcher states that brand loyalty is the final objective a company sets for a branded merchandise. The importance of brand loyalty cannot be underestimated due to the fact that as brand loyalty increases, the vulnerability to the competitive actions is reduced which is very important in the cut-throat competitive era of today. The customer’s adherence to a particular brand increases the market value of the brand and helps the organization to have a competitive edge over the rivals. The brand loyalty also provides confidence among the organizations to launch a new product and to get involved in new ventures as they feel that the loyal customers will definitely go for the new products.

This also helps the organization with the process of the expansion. Brand loyalty is basically a consumer’s preference and priority to opt for a particular brand in a product category. The reason behind this preference can be the perception of provision of the right product features and high level of quality at the right price. Additionally the brand loyalty can also have its basis in the emotional attachment of the user with the brand. The preference can be built upon an association with the brand symbol.

Aaker defined Brand loyalty as “the attachment that a customer has to a brand”. It can also be seen as consumer’s preference to purchase a particular brand in a product class and this could be as a result of the consumer awareness about that particular brand. The strong name of a firm, the good image of the product and corporate reputation are the factors which builds loyalty/commitment, which helps the consumer to value a product of a particular company and put it above the others (Souiden et al. 2006). “A deeply held commitment to re-buy or re-patronize a preferred product/service consistently in the future, thereby causing repetitive same-brand or same brand-set purchasing, despite situational influences and marketing efforts having potential to cause switching behavior” (Oliver,1997 referred in Ozer, et. al. 2005, p.90). The brand loyalty of existing customer represent a strategic asset to the organization, that, if properly managed and exploited, has the potential to provide value in several ways.

It works to reduce the marketing costs of doing business. It is simple and much less costly to keep hold of customers than to get new ones. Brand loyalty even generates trade leverage. At the extreme, brand loyalty may dominate store choice decisions. Additionally various studies