Modeling Operationalized Measures of Customer Loyalty

Abstract

How can customer loyalty be operationalized and measured? The marketing literature has taken several approaches to understanding the basis of customer loyalty. Oliver (1997) defines loyalty as “a deeply held commitment to rebuy or repatronize a preferred product or service consistently in the future, despite situational influences and marketing efforts having the potential to cause switching behavior” (p. 392). Brand loyalty, service loyalty, vendor loyalty, and store loyalty have each been studied and some attempts at operationalized measurement have occurred.