Loyalty Research

We love research at the Loyalty Science Lab! Whether it's pure academic research or collaborative research with industry partners, our researchers aim to create a deeper understanding of brand loyalty and customer loyalty. Check out our sample projects, recent publications, and research insights for practitioners.

The Politics of Brand Loyalty

Discover how social and political values are reshaping consumer relationships with brands.  Our latest research reveals the impact of ideological alignment on loyalty, retention, and marketing strategy.

Sample Current & Past Projects

Loyalty Calculus

Collaborate with a  multichannel retailer to understand the top-down vs. bottom-up relationship between customers' loyalty in specific channels and their overall loyalty toward the retailer. 

Loyalty Program Mindset

Examine how program tier status and distance change consumer mindset and how to personalize email communication based on such changes.

Defining Loyalty

Explore the complex relationships between brand vs. channel loyalty, family vs. personal loyalty, and sales vs. service loyalty, to define the concept of a loyal  customer

Future of Loyalty

A multi-country consumer survey to understand what loyalty means to  consumers, new drivers of customer loyalty, and loyalty program engagement and impact.

Goal Psychology in Loyalty Programs

Investigate the utilization of goal psychology to optimize personalized progress feedback based on consumer tier status and history in a loyalty program.

Monetary vs. Non-Monetary Rewards

Study differential reactions to monetary vs. non- monetary rewards in a loyalty program, as a result of time discounting and customer-firm relationship. 

Explore The Loyalty Puzzle

Every three years, Loyalty Science Lab compiles a list of the most important  loyalty questions at the moment based on academic and practice community feedback. 

Recent Academic Publications

  • Zhang, Junzhou and Yuping Liu-Thompkins (2023), "Personalized Email Marketing in Loyalty Programs: The Role of Multidimensional Construal Levels,” Journal of the Academy of Marketing Science, in press. http://doi.org/10.1007/s11747-023-00927-5 
  • Liu-Thompkins, Yuping, Shintaro Okazaki, and Hairong Li (2022), "Artificial Empathy in Marketing Interactions: Bridging the Human-Al Gap in Affective and Social Customer Experience," Journal of the Academy of Marketing Science, 50 (6), 1198-1218. http://doi.org/10.1007/s11747-022-00892-5 
  • Liu-Thompkins, Yuping, Leila Khoshghadam, Arjang Attar Shoushtari, and Saeed Zal (2022), “What Drives Retailer Loyalty? A Meta-Analysis of the Role of Cognitive, Affective, and Social Factors Across Five Decades," Journal of Retailing, 98 (1), 92-110. http://doi.org/10.1016/j.jretai.2022.02.005 

Research Insights for Practitioners

Check out our Medium page for accessible research insights with key takeaways for practitioners. Here are a few of our most popular articles: 

  • Understand the Layers of Loyalty: We are often asked this question: "What is loyalty?" Drawing on years of loyalty research, we look at the four layers of loyalty and how they matter in different ways. 
  • Do Loyalty Programs Work? Two large-scale scientific studies published in top marketing journals offer evidence on loyalty program impact and optimal design considerations. 
  • Six Criteria for Assessing Your Loyalty Program ValueConsumers engage with loyalty programs that provide value to them. This article outlines six criteria for assessing the overall value of a loyalty program. 
  • How to Make Brand Activism Work: Brand activism is the act of brands taking a public stance on one side of a controversial issue. This article looks into its effects on the brand and how to make it more effective.

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