The increasingly competitive business environment has influenced contemporary organisations to build mutual beneficial relationships with their customers indicating a paradigm shift from transactional marketing. In order to compete in this intense competitive environment, organisations are creating competitive advantage over their rivals through service quality that will influence customer satisfaction which subsequently leads to customer loyalty. Service quality has been found to be the key strategy of success and survival for most organisations like retail supermarkets who want to win the loyalty of their customers because of its positive effect on customer satisfaction. The purpose of this research was to determine the relationship between service quality, customer satisfaction and customer loyalty in the retail supermarket industry. An empirical study was conducted in Grahamstown between two main supermarkets through a survey that determined customers’ perceptions on service quality, customer satisfaction and customer loyalty respectively. The empirical findings of this research study revealed that moderate to strong positive linear relationships exists between the dimensions of service quality (namely physical aspects, reliability, personal interaction, problem solving and policy) and customer satisfaction at the 5% level of significance. Furthermore, this study showed that dimensions of service quality (namely physical aspects, reliability, personal interaction and problem solving) have weak negative linear relationships with price sensitivity dimension of customer loyalty. The study further showed that the dimensions of service quality (namely physical aspects, reliability, personal interaction, problem solving and policy) have weak to moderate positive linear relationships with the purchase intentions dimension of customer loyalty. In addition, all the dimensions of service quality (namely physical aspects, reliability, personal interaction, problem solving and policy) showed moderate positive linear relationships with word of mouth communication dimension of customer loyalty. A weak negative linear relationship between price sensitivity dimension of customer loyalty and customer satisfaction was revealed in this study. Purchase intentions dimension of customer loyalty was also found to have a moderate positive linear relationship with customer satisfaction. In addition, word of mouth communication dimension of customer loyalty showed a strong positive linear relationship with customer satisfaction. There is sufficient evidence that the customers of the two supermarkets in this study have different perceptions on problem solving dimension of service quality. This study further provides sufficient evidence of the significant difference between gender on the levels of customer satisfaction. In addition, this study showed that customers of various levels of education and occupations differ in price sensitivity dimension of customer loyalty. The average scores for word of mouth communication, purchase intentions and price sensitivity dimensions of customer loyalty were found to be significantly different between the two supermarkets investigated in this study. Therefore, for supermarkets to compete effectively in the intense retail supermarket industry in South Africa they have to manage their service quality dimensions so as to influence customer satisfaction and customer loyalty respectively.

Digitalization has come to represent a larger part of people’s everyday lives. The technology makes it possible to conduct bank errand at all hours. Therefore, the use of digital services has increased remarkable the past years. SEB, Swedbank, Nordea and Handelsbanken are the four largest banks in Sweden, which all have been affected by the increased digitalization.   As the digital services becomes more common, the physical customer meetings become rarer, a situation that affects the customer satisfaction. It has become easier for the customers to switch between different banks as multiple of services is available online, something that sets high standards within the banking industry if the banks want to maintain satisfied customers, but also whilst adopting the new technology. This study aims to describe how the Swedish banks work with customer loyalty in view of the increased digitalization.   The theory is based on four components which all have a major impact on customer loyalty: customer satisfaction, trust, communication and competence. Customer satisfaction and trust are considered to have a direct impact on customer loyalty, while competence and communication have an indirect impact.

The aim of this thesis is to suggest optimizations for Triola Plc. loyalty program based on theoretical understanding of loyalty and its role in success of a company, as well as numer-ous practical analyses. The thesis is divided into two main parts. The first part overviews the theoretical knowledge about consumer loyalty and how loyalty program can be an ef-fective tool in building said loyalty. The second part is formed of variety of practical anal-yses, including analysis of Triola sales data, data mining analysis using MML-TGI data ana-lyser, consumer survey and lastly benchmarking analysis. The last chapter is a synthesis of the theoretical and practical parts and suggest recommendations for Triola loyalty program based on the insights gathered throughout the whole thesis.

Doctoral thesis, which deals with customer satisfaction and customer loyalty in relation to a competitive advantage. Methodology used for purposes of doctoral thesis. The process of consumer satisfaction and consumer loyalty research. References to foreign literature. A formulation of objectives and hypotheses. Specifics of customer satisfaction in the field of services with a high proportion of personal folders.

The diploma thesis deals with strategic brand management. Analyzes the brand of both internal and external pesrpectives and presents a comprehensive analysis of the company’s brand. Factors influencing the customer loyalty and their importance in terms of the actual client perception, that serve as starting points for the proposal part, are identified. Main intention of these part is to create proposals for the development of a brand in accordance with the strengthening of a customer loyalty and with the recommended procedure of action for the future.

This Master´s thesis deals with the analysis of the factors influencing the customer satisfaction of RM Servis, authorised Peugeot car dealer. The aim was to set up useful method of measuring customer satisfaction, loyalty, and customer value. This would enable the company to follow the current situation, and to focuse on improvements. I have also included the suggestions on how to improve the overall customer satisfaction, and a calculation of an impact of the implementation on the profitability.

This Master's thesis deals with entrepreneurial prospectus of Invia.cz, Ltd company. The aim of the thesis is to propose a motion of the customer loyalty programme for the clients of the travel agency. The objective of my thesis is to create a simple and attractive loyalty programme, which will contribute to the creation of long-term relationship between the company and its clients as well as to gaining and obtaining customers in the competitive environment.

Dans un contexte de développement des stratégies marketing multi-canal lié principalement à l’évolution constante de l’outil Internet et des nouvelles technologies de diffusion (Dupuis, Prunet, 2001 ; Dabholkar, 1996), il convient de mieux comprendre les effets de ces stratégies sur la performance commerciale de l’entreprise via le processus de fidélisation client. Ainsi, ce projet de recherche propose d’investiguer, à travers diverses études quantitatives l’effet les relances multi-canal sur la fidélité envers les enseignes à travers une opération "chèque fidélité". l'étude permettra de construire un modèle de référence dont la duplicité sera vérifiée afin d'être exploité sur plusieurs secteurs d'activité commerciale. / In a context of development of the multi-channel marketing strategies bound mainly to the constant evolution of the Internet tools and the new technologies of distribution (Dupuis, Prunet, on 2001; Dabholkar, on 1996), it is advisable to understand the effects of these strategies on the companies' commercial performance through the process of customer loyalty development. So, this research project suggests investigating, through diverse quantitative studies, the effect the multi-channel relaunchings on loyalty programs to signs through an operation "check". The study will allow to build a benchmark model which the duplicity will be verified to be exploited on several business sectors.

In conjunction with technological development, digital marketing has become a common course of action for marketers to discover potential consumers. A digital form of marketing is personalized marketing, where companies tailor advertising on the internet based on consumer preferences. By storing personal data from social media and websites, it becomes possible for companies to identify potential consumers. Generation-Z has grown up among digital platforms that offer personalized marketing. This thesis will therefore examine when Generation-Z experiences that personalized marketing transitions from being useful to infringing on the individual integrity. The research design used for the empirical data in the study was semi-structured interviews on Generation-Z between the ages of 8-24. During the interviews, it emerged that all respondents felt influenced by individualized marketing. They felt that personalized marketing could infringe on integrity but also be useful when needed. The results of the study show that the risk of collecting personal data like religious opinions, sexual preferences, political stances and audio tracking smartphones, is that trust in the company decreases among Generation-Z. The advantage of personalized marketing is that it satisfies the needs of the targeted audience in question. Generation-Z prefer ads that suit their preferences rather than having inconsequential advertising and are willing to exchange a small amount of personal information for tailored ads in return. Consequently, personalized marketing has a major impact on the internet experience among Generation-Z.

Bakgrund: Covid-19-pandemin är en kris som orsakat snabba utmaningar och åtgärder för både företag och konsumenter och det är även en kris som kan komma att bli en av de mest utdragna kriser som upplevts under modern tid. Restriktionerna som uppstått för att minska smittspridningen kan påverka konsumenters nuvarande samt efterföljande beteende och vanor vilket gör att företag behöver upprätthålla relationer med sina kunder för att uppnå fortsatt kundlojalitet även efter krisen. Forskning om kundlojalitet har knappt belyst kriser som en avgörande faktor för lojalitet, men att förlora en betydande del av kunderna under och efter en kris kommer leda till en svår framtid för drabbade företag. I litteraturen återfinns olika aspekter och faktorer som kan ha en påverkan på kundlojalitet under en krissituation, men då forskare argumenterar för att olika faktorer är viktiga gällande kundlojalitet under kris råder det delade meningar i litteraturen. En avsaknad finns kring åtgärder vid en kris som en avgörande faktor för kundlojalitet och hur kundlojalitet behandlas i företags krishantering.Syfte: Syftet med studien är att utifrån de faktorer som presenteras i teorikapitlet föreslå ett möjligt ramverk för hur företag kan arbeta med kundlojalitet under en kris. Detta utifrån vårt exempel- och studieområde vilket är svensk dagligvaruhandel och Covid-19-pandemin. Metod: För att uppfylla studiens syfte har en kvalitativ metod använts. Metoden utgår från en abduktiv forskningsansats där nio semistrukturerade intervjuer med företagsledare inom detaljhandeln genomförts.Slutsatser: Studien finner att de mest frekvent använda faktorerna som företag arbetar med för att främja kundlojalitet under Covid-19-pandemin involverar hygien och säkerhet, kriskommunikation, utökning av onlineverksamhet samt reaktion och agerande i syfte att få sina kunder att känna sig trygga. Sammanfattningsvis stärks samtliga ursprungligt teoretiska faktorer och två nya faktorer adderas utifrån empirin i studiens avlutande analysmodellen. Studiens respondenter redogör för att ansvarstagandet spelar en stor roll för kundlojaliteten under pandemin och samtliga butiker har vidtagit de åtgärder som krävs för att få sina kunder att känna sig trygga för att på så sätt förhoppningsvis bibehålla kundlojaliteten. Studien finner även att innebörden av en faktor kan ändras under krisens gång, det vill säga att faktorn i sin helhet tillämpas men de faktiska åtgärderna som utförs i praktiken kan variera, ändras eller att tyngdpunkten skiftas. Vår uppfattning är även att de faktorer som presenteras är krisspecifika vilket innebär att de kan spela större eller mindre roll baserat på vilken typ av krissituation som råder eller analyseras. / Background: The Covid-19 pandemic is a crisis that caused rapid challenges for both companies and consumers, it is also a crisis that may become one of the most extended crises experienced in modern times. The restrictions that arose in order to stop the infection can affect consumers' current and subsequent behavior and habits, which makes it important for companies to maintain relationships with their customers to achieve continued customer loyalty even after the crisis. Research on customer loyalty has barely highlighted crises as a crucial factor for loyalty but losing a significant portion of customers during or after a crisis will lead to a more difficult future for affected companies. In literature, there are various aspects and factors that can have an impact on customer loyalty during a crisis. There are divided opinions in the literature and a lack of measures in the event of a crisis as a decisive factor for customer loyalty and how customer loyalty is handled by companies' crisis management.Purpose: The purpose of this study is to propose a framework, based on the factors presented in the theory chapter, on how companies can shape/uphold customer loyalty. This is based on our example and study area - Swedish grocery stores and the Covid-19 pandemic.Method: To fulfill the purpose of the study a qualitative method has been used. The method is based on an abductive research approach in which nine semi-structured interviews with grocery store managers were conducted.Conclusions: The study finds that the most frequently used factors that companies work with to promote customer loyalty during the Covid-19 pandemic involve hygiene and safety, crisis communication, expansion of online operations and reaction and action to make their customers feel safe. In summary, all originally theoretical factors are strengthened, and two new ones are added based on the empirical data in the study's final analysis model. The study's respondents report that responsibility plays a major role in customer loyalty during the pandemic and all stores have taken the necessary measures to make their customers feel safe in order to hopefully maintain customer loyalty. The study also finds that the meaning of a factor can change during the crisis, i.e. that the factor is applied in its entirety, but the actual measures carried out in practice can vary, change, or that the emphasis shifts. Our perception is that the factors presented are crisis specific, meaning that they can be of various importance depending on the type of crisis occurring or being analyzed.