Women, men and loyalty programs
(A2019-9389)

AUTHORS

Sonia Vilches-Montero, University of Newcastle; Renzo Bravo-Olavarria, University of Newcastle

KEYWORDS

loyalty programs; gender; store loyalty

ABSTRACT

Women as opposed to men differ in their cognitive processes, attitudinal orientations and behavioral responses (Helgesen and Nesset, 2010; Perez and del Bosque, 2013; Van Vugt et al., 2007). Herein, we expand this knowledge and show that women as opposed to men will focus on different loyalty-program characteristics to assess their relationship with the loyalty program and its store. Specifically, we propose and test the notion that the perceived advantages of the loyalty program will be more appealing to men; while female customers will more positively respond to the innovativeness of the program. Further, we propose that the interaction between the characteristics of the program and gender will affect store loyalty through the mediating role of emotional attachment.