Categories of Customer Loyalty

The present article applies the customer loyalty classification framework developed by Dick and Basu (1994) to the fast food hamburger market. Based on a two factor classification, consisting of repeat patronage and relative attitude, four categories of customer loyalty are examined and profiled on the basis of perceived risk, product class importance, brand decision importance, self-reported brand loyalty, number of brands purchased in the past six months, brand awareness, and brand consideration. A x2 statistical test did not four loyalty categories in the fast food hamburger market, suggesting that all four loyalty categories are present in the fast food industry. The analysis finds that the four groups are distinct in their characteristics and suggests that marketers design separate marketing programs for each group.