| dc.description.abstract | Loyalty is one of the main assets of a brand (Aaker, 1991; Yoo and Donthu, 2001). It means
repeat purchasing of the brand based on strong internal disposition—in other words, repeat purchase
behaviour resulting from a preference for that brand. Customers loyal to a brand are customers who
return repeatedly to buy the brand because they are emotionally attached and committed to it. These
are the customers least tempted by the competition—customers with higher switching costs who are
willing to pay a higher price for the brand to which they are loyal.
In today’s markets, achieving and maintaining loyal customers has become an increasingly
complex challenge for brands due to the widespread acceptance and adoption of diverse technologies
by which customers communicate with brands. Customers use different channels (physical, web,
apps, social media) to seek information about a brand, communicate with it, chat about the brand and
purchase its products. Firms are thus continuously changing and adapting their processes to provide
customers with agile communication channels and coherent, integrated brand experiences through
the different channels in which customers are present. In this context, understanding how brand
management can improve value co-creation and multichannel experience—among other issues—and
contribute to improving a brand’s portfolio of loyal customers constitutes an area of special interest
for academics and marketing professionals.
This Special Issue explores new areas of customer loyalty and brand management, providing
new insights into the field. Both concepts have widely evolved over the last decade to encompass such
concepts and practices as brand image, experiences, multichannel context, multimedia platforms and
value co-creation, as well as relational variables, such as trust, engagement and identification (among
others). | |
