How do you measure something as instinctive as emotion? For loyalty program marketers, that question is becoming impossible to ignore. Emotional connection has long been viewed as an intangible bonus, but today it’s a powerful force evolving customer loyalty.
To better understand how customers experience emotional connection within loyalty programs, ITA Group commissioned a study of 5,000+ loyalty program participants across 50+ leading brands in industries including quick service restaurants (QSR), retail, finance, telecom and gas.
We gathered insights from a diverse group of loyalty program members and examined programs across major industries to reflect a wide range of real-world experiences.
Our research explored key questions like:
- Why emotional connection is a critical factor in loyalty program success
- How emotional connection influences spend, visit frequency and long-term loyalty
- Which factors strengthen or weaken emotional connection
- How brands can apply a practical formula to create meaningful, measurable connections within their loyalty programs
Now you can use these findings to make emotional connection your loyalty program’s greatest strength.
Related: Revisit the first part of our customer loyalty research to see how value and ease create a framework for emotional connection.
3 research takeaways for customer loyalty leaders
1. Emotional connection is a multiplier for customer loyalty
When customers feel an emotional bond with a brand, our study revealed that it drives measurable behavior. Emotionally connected customers are 4x more likely to visit and 4x more likely to spend than customers who feel disconnected. This deep level of emotional connection turns programs from transactional tools into relationship builders.
2. Brands are underdelivering on the loyalty drivers customers value most
Our research also uncovered a gap between what customers say they value from brands and what brands provide. The findings uncovered five key emotional drivers that brands are overlooking. For loyalty leaders, addressing these gaps creates one of the biggest opportunities to stand out in an increasingly crowded loyalty program landscape.
3. Redemption keeps the loyalty cycle turning
The sooner a customer redeems, the sooner they feel rewarded and connected. Redemption is the momentum loyalty programs must incorporate to drive the loyalty cycle. It signals value, sparks emotional satisfaction and keeps customers cycling through engagement, advocacy and repeat behavior. Loyalty programs that make redemption easy and provide valuable rewards set the flywheel in motion, driving a positive cycle of retention.
What this new research means for customer loyalty programs
Today’s most successful customer loyalty programs deliver both function and feeling. They balance value, ease and emotional connection to create experiences and relationships that customers genuinely care about.
Our upcoming ebook, Quantifying customer loyalty’s hidden drivers, explores these findings and offers practical steps for brands looking to strengthen connection at every stage of the loyalty journey. This research reinforces that loyalty programs are one of the most powerful tools brands have for:
- Strengthening emotional connection with customers
- Delivering consistent perceived benefit through easy redemption of rewards and perceived benefit
- Turning basic customer participation into advocacy
Related: How to increase loyalty program value with improved functional benefits
Our research also introduces a clear, data-backed formula marketers can use to guide a successful loyalty program, one built on both measurable benefit and emotional connection. Together, these findings form a road map to turn loyalty from a transactional metric into a true business advantage.
If you’d like to learn more before the full ebook release, watch our on-demand webinar for more on how the study came together and what these early results could mean for your loyalty program.