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Relationship marketing in social media jonsson
1. Lund
University
Internet
Marketing,
Branding
and
Consumers
2012-‐02-‐28
Relationship
Marketing
and
Loyalty
in
Social
Media
A
Comparison
Between
Three
Swedish
Membership
Clubs
Author
Caroline
Jonsson
880101
Word
Count
Excluding
References:
2996
2. Table
of
Contents
Introduction
...........................................................................................................
3
1.1
Background
...................................................................................................................................................
3
1.2
Problem
Discussion
...................................................................................................................................
3
1.3
Research
Question
.....................................................................................................................................
4
1.4
Purpose
...........................................................................................................................................................
4
Theoretical
Framework
..........................................................................................
5
2.1
Loyalty
and
Membership
Clubs
............................................................................................................
5
................................................................................................................
5
2.2
Relationships
in
Social
Media
2.3
Framework
Online
Relationship
Management
..............................................................................
6
Empirics
and
Analysis
.............................................................................................
8
.................................................................................................................................
8
3.1
Selection
of
Empirics
3.2
Activities
and
Analysis
.............................................................................................................................
8
Conclusion
............................................................................................................
11
Limitations
and
Further
Research
...........................................................................................................
11
References
...........................................................................................................
12
Appendix
1-‐
Membership
Club
Activities
..............................................................
14
P1:
Links
to
other
Social
Medias
in
Individual
Membership
Newsletter
.................................
14
P2:
KappAhl
Real-‐time
Chat
on
Facebook
Page
..................................................................................
14
P3:
“My
Info”-‐
Individual
Data
Offered
by
Lindex
in
Membership
Newsletter
.....................
15
Appendix
2-‐
H&M
Facebook
Activities
..................................................................
16
P1:
Standard
H&M
Collage
Presenting
Products
and
Encouraging
Interaction
...................
16
P2:
Standard
H&M
Collage
Presenting
Products
and
Encouraging
Interaction
with
Numbered
Pictures
.........................................................................................................................................
17
P3:
H&M
Interactive
Questions
Revealing
Customer
Preferences
.............................................
18
P4:
Discussed
H&M
Advertisement
on
their
Facebook
Page
........................................................
18
Appendix
3
–
Lindex
Facebook
Activities
..............................................................
19
P1:
Standard
Lindex
Collage
Presenting
Products
Lacking
Interaction
Possibilities
........
19
Appendix
4:
KappAhl
Facebook
Activities
.............................................................
20
P1:
Standard
KappAhl
Collage
Presenting
Products
with
Limited
Interaction
Encouragement
.................................................................................................................................................
20
2
3. 1
Introduction
_____________________________________________________________________________________________
1.1
Background
Market
orientation
is
a
widely
researched
area
(Slater
and
Narver,
1994;
Kohli
and
Jaworski,
1990;
Javalgi,
Martin
and
Young,
2006).
Existing
research
suggest
different
components
to
be
included
in
order
for
a
business
to
become
market-‐
oriented,
the
importance
of
being
customer-‐oriented
is
however
stressed
by
several
researchers
(Slater
and
Narver,
1994;
Kohli
and
Jaworski,
1990;
Javalgi,
Martin
and
Young,
2006).
To
become
customer
oriented
it
is
fundamental
that
companies
adapt
their
activities
to
customers
ever-‐changing
expectations.
By
making
continuous
data
gathering
of
customer
preferences,
the
company
is
able
to
distinguish
what
aspects
that
will
enhance
customer
satisfaction
(Slater
and
Narver,
1994).
If
the
company
succeeds
in
meeting
these
requests,
the
customer
will
receive
superior
value,
which
increases
the
chances
for
that
customer
to
become
loyal
(Kohli
and
Jaworski,
1990).
To
create
customer
value
and
thereby
prospects
for
loyal
customers,
emphasis
has
traditionally
been
putted
on
involving
customers
before
and
after
sales
(Slater
and
Narver,
1994).
This
resulted
in
relationship
formation
between
company
and
customer
and
customer
relationship
management
(CRM)
has
thereafter
become
a
frequently
centralized
business
activity
(Javalgi,
Martin
and
Young,
2006).
The
common
idea
of
a
relationship
is
that
it
should
be
built
on
trust
and
information
sharing
and
will,
if
successfully
managed,
benefit
both
parties
(Dowling,
2002).
One
way
of
reaching
this
type
of
exchanging
relationship
in
the
B2C
context
has
been
to
create
loyalty
programmes,
which
is
especially
common
in
the
retail
industry
(Dowling,
2002;
Leenheer,
Heerde,
Bijmolt,
Smidts,
2007).
Membership
or
customer
clubs
are
a
type
of
loyalty
programme,
which
according
to
Liebermann
(1999)
offers
great
prospects
for
creating
long
lasting
customer
relationships.
1.2
Problem
Discussion
Today,
when
the
majority
of
customers
are
found
online,
the
prospects
for
being
customer-‐oriented
and
building
relationships
has
changed.
Customers
increasingly
have
access
to
online
information
and
thereby
they
come
across
more
value
propositions
than
before.
Pires,
Stanton
and
Rita
(2006)
argue
that
this
makes
customers
empowered,
since
they
easily
can
switch
to
the
supplier
who
offers
the
best
value
proposition.
This
implies
that
the
value
creational
process
is
becoming
increasingly
fundamental,
since
it
is
harder
to
maintain
customer
relationships
in
an
online
climate.
(Pires,
Stanton
and
Rita,
2006)
3
4. Considering
that
a
main
focus
in
a
traditional
customer-‐oriented
approach
has
been
to
collect
consumer
input
for
creating
value,
social
media
platforms
seem
to
offer
facilitating
opportunities
for
companies
(Slater
and
Narver,
1994).
Since
both
consumer
and
seller
are
present
at
the
same
platforms,
interaction
is
eased
and
can
be
done
in
real-‐
time
(Scott,
2011:3-‐13).
This
accelerates
the
process
of
receiving
customer
complaints
and
ideas,
which
in
turn
facilitates
value
creation
(Gupta,
Armstrong
and
Clayton,
2011).
Gupta,
et
al.,
(2011)
argues
that
companies
cannot
overlook
the
impact
that
social
media
has
today
and
that
it
is
vital
to
engage
customers
online.
This
argumentation,
combined
with
the
increased
emphasis
putted
on
customer
value
creation,
implies
that
traditional
offline
relationship
building
is
no
longer
enough.
On
this
note
it
seems
interesting
to
study
company
efforts
that
previously
has
been
sufficient
for
creating
relationships
and
loyalty,
but
that
need
to
embrace
the
new
rules
of
marketing
to
survive
today.
In
the
context
of
loyalty
programmes
and
membership
clubs,
the
discussion
above
implies
that
traditional
offerings
such
as
discounts
and
bonuses
are
no
longer
sufficient
to
stimulate
customers’
value
preferences
(Liebermann,
1999;
Chernatony,
2001).
It
seems
preferable
to
study
how
a
previously
offline
operating
membership
club
are
grasping
the
opportunities,
which
are
offered
through
social
media,
to
create
on-‐going
superior
customer
value
(Armelini
and
Villanueva
2011;
Keitzmann,
Hermkens,
McCarthy
and
Silvestre,
2011;
Chernatony
2001;
Bernoff
and
Li,
2008).
Due
to
the
discussion
above,
it
is
reasonable
that
companies,
who
are
not
using
social
media
platforms
to
enhance
club
member
relationships,
are
facing
a
risk
of
being
left
behind
in
competition.
1.3
Research
Question
The
discussion
leads
to
the
following
question:
What
membership
club
offerings
and
activities,
made
by
a
company
that
previously
has
been
using
an
offline
loyalty
programme,
seems
more
efficient
when
trying
to
create
customer
relationships
through
social
media?
1.4
Purpose
The
purpose
of
this
paper
is
to
compare
membership
club
activities
performed
by
three
companies
in
the
clothing
industry
and
analyse
how
they
manage
to
integrate
usage
of
social
media
platforms
in
their
loyalty
programme.
By
doing
that
an
understanding
for
which
activities
that
seem
most
efficient
for
managing
customer
relationships
online
will
be
gained.
The
findings
offer
a
possible
contribution
to
online
relationship
marketing
theory,
which
can
be
used
by
marketing
strategists
that
aim
to
create
long
lasting
relationships
through
an
online
membership
club.
4
5. 2
Theoretical
Framework
_____________________________________________________________________________________________
2.1
Loyalty
and
Membership
Clubs
A
strategic
way
to
foster
relationships
with
customers,
in
order
to
build
loyalty,
is
to
implement
membership
clubs
where
both
customer
and
company
benefit
from
interacting
with
each
other
(Stauss,
Chojnacki,
Decker
and
Hoffmann,
2001).
A
membership
club
usually
operates
by
issuing
membership
cards,
sending
out
newsletters
and
offering
discounts
and
gifts
(Liebermann,
1999).
Liebermann
(1999)
states
that
the
purpose
of
membership
clubs
is
to
enhance
loyalty
and
he
finds
3
effects
to
have
a
particularly
positive
effect
on
loyalty:
if
the
customer
are
a
member
in
a
single
membership
club,
if
he
or
she
is
joining
by
own
incentive,
and
if
the
customer
is
participating
in
club
activities.
Leenheer,
et
al.,
(2007)
are
agreeing
that
the
effect
of
a
loyalty
program
diminishes
the
more
competitive
loyalty
programs
a
customer
is
a
member
of.
To
create
a
successful
loyalty
program
it
is
suggested
that
the
design,
customer
profile
and
“soft
benefits”
should
be
focused
upon.
The
loyalty
program
design
includes
consideration
of
direct
or
delayed
rewards
and
how
these
should
be
balanced
(Leenheer,
et
al.,
2007).
Another
important
aspect
to
nurture
loyalty
is
to
create
benefits
that
are
not
financial
related,
which
is
done
by
continuously
creating
original
ideas
to
amuse
and
entertain
members.
These
ideas
should
be
cost
effective
but
at
the
same
time
benefit
non-‐economic
customer
value
(Leenheer,
et
al.,
2007).
Stauss,
et
al.,
(2001)
distinguishes
a
correlation
between
interaction
and
knowledge,
implying
that
the
more
interaction
there
is,
the
more
customer
knowledge
the
company
receives.
To
use
the
membership
club
as
an
interactive
platform,
during
the
entire
customer
life
cycle,
will
therefore
deliver
valuable
input
regarding
preferences,
which
enhances
the
chances
to
create
customer
relationship
satisfaction
(Stauss,
et
al.,
2001).
2.2
Relationships
in
Social
Media
Social
media
platforms
have
changed
the
culture
of
customer
behaviour
and
have
resulted
in
enhanced
customer
power
(Bernoff
and
Li,
2008).
Customers
are
no
longer
passively
absorbing
value
propositions
from
a
brand
manager
rather
they
are
actively
forming
own
brand
values
online
(Bernoff
and
Li,
2008;
Chernatony,
2001;
Keitzmann,
et
al.,
2011).
This
increase
pressure
on
companies
ability
to
absorb
and
adapt
to
meet
customer
demand
(Bernoff
and
Li,
2008).
It
seems
like
the
old
marketing
procedures
cannot
be
directly
translated
to
online
medias
and
Chernatony
(2001)
for
example,
argue
that
maintenance
of
loyalty
online
is
not
the
same
as
offline.
In
online
loyalty
schemes
the
manager
has
to
acknowledge
that
a
customer
interacts
with
both
a
brand
and
a
5
6. community
and
that
brand
connection
and
repeated
visits,
are
usually
a
result
derived
from
the
customer
bond
with
the
community
rather
than
the
brand
(Chernatony,
2001).
Therefor
offline
incentives
in
loyalty
programmes
are
not
enough
as
value
propositions,
when
it
comes
to
creating
loyalty
online
(Chernatony,
2001).
To
be
able
to
create
relationships
online
Keitzmann,
et
al.,
(2011)
states
that
the
online
community
has
to
encourage
it.
Relationships
online
are
distinguished
by
conversation
and
interaction
between
users
and
different
content
is
needed
depending
on
the
relationship
objective
(Keitzmann,
et.
al.,
2011).
If
the
purpose
is
to
maintain
customer
relationships
less
effort
is
needed
than
if
the
company
aims
to
enhance
the
relationship
(Keitzmann,
et.
al.,
2011).
Overall,
a
strong
relationship
is
characterized
by
being
long-‐term
and
involving,
which
implies
that
companies
have
to
devote
time
and
commitment
to
be
successful
in
social
media
(Armelini
and
Villanueva,
2011).
Armelini
and
Villanueva
(2011)
mean
that
a
corporate
Facebook
page
is
not
a
place
to
communicate
one-‐way
communication,
but
rather
a
place
to
practice
interaction
with
customers.
Keitzmann,
et
al.,
(2011),
are
agreeing
that
Facebook
is
a
social
media
platform
well-‐fitted
for
nurturing
and
creating
relationships.
2.3
Framework
Online
Relationship
Management
Social
media
is
a
relationship-‐oriented
media
that
offer
great
prospect
for
building
mutual
value
through
relationships
(Rowley,
2004).
Due
to
the
vide
variety
of
suggestions
available,
regarding
how
to
manage
online
strategies
to
meet
customer
expectations
and
build
online
relationships,
Figure
1
was
made.
The
figure
is
based
on
suggestions
from
existing
research
regarding
how
to
use
social
media
to
maintain
customer
oriented
during
changed
power
between
customer
and
company
(Armelini
and
Villanueva
2011;
Keitzmann,
et
al.,
2011;
Chernatony
2001;
Bernoff
and
Li,
2008;
Weinberg
and
Pehlivan,
2011).
Even
though
there
is
no
particular
order
among
the
relationship
managing
activities
compiled
in
Figure
1,
“Make
Room
for
Conversation”
is
recognized
to
be
an
overall
inception
in
this
framework
since
consumers
need
to
be
informed
about
different
communities
in
order
to
find
them
(Keitzmann,
et
al.,
2011).
By
creating
communities
where
interaction
is
encouraged,
conversations
are
more
likely
to
arise
(Chernatony,
2001).
If
the
company
continuously
track
and
listens
to
what
customers
are
saying,
managers
can
learn
and
get
ideas
on
how
to
improve
business
and
offerings
(Bernoff
and
Li,
2008;
Chernatony,
2001).
By
making
changes
that
is
preferred
by
customers,
the
company
will
enhance
its
value
offering
(Bernoff
and
Li,
2008;
Chernatony,
2001).
That
both
customer
and
company
are
engaged
is
therefore
fundamental
for
relationship
building
(Weinberg
and
Pehlivan,
2011).
It
might
also
result
in
consumers
recommending
products
to
others,
and
thereby
carry
a
company
brand
message
(Bernoff
and
Li,
2008;
Armelini
and
Villanueva,
2011).
It
is
however
important
that
companies
learn
when
it
is
beneficial
to
join
customer
conversation
online
since
both
advantages
and
risks
are
associated
with
intruding
a
conversation
(Keitzmann,
et
al.,
2011).
To
have
a
support
system,
that
partly
consist
of
a
place
for
consumers
to
turn
for
help
and
information
and
partly
where
employees
track
their
communities
and
reaches
out
for
help
without
customers
having
to
call
e.g.
6
7. a
support
centre,
is
a
preferable
act
to
facilitate
for
the
customers
(Bernoff
and
Li,
2008).
Make
Room
for
Con-‐
versation
Track/
Support
Listen
RELATIONSHIP
Learn/
Engage
Get
Ideas
Respond
Figure
1-‐
How
to
use
social
media
to
create
or
maintain
customer
relationship
7
8. 3
Empirics
and
Analysis
_____________________________________________________________________________________________
3.1
Selection
of
Empirics
To
conduct
this
research
three
Swedish
clothing
companies
who
has
established
membership
clubs
was
chosen
(H&M
Webpage,
KappAhl
Webpage,
Lindex
Webpage).
To
only
chose
Swedish
companies
are
based
on
the
idea
that
all
companies’
origin
from
the
same
culture
and
therefore
have
somewhat
similar
prerequisites
for
conducting
membership
clubs
toward
a
Swedish
target
audience.
Due
to
the
length
of
the
study,
Facebook
activity
and
email
offerings
are
focused
upon
in
the
analysis.
Facebook
seem
as
an
appropriate
media
to
investigate,
due
the
relationship
possibilities
that
are
offered
through
the
media
(Armelini
and
Villanueva,
2011;
Keitzmann,
et
al.,
2011).
Email
offerings
seem
relevant
to
investigate
since
they
might
distinguish
individual
relationship
building
activities
that
are
only
accessed
by
club
members.
The
chosen
companies
are:
H&M,
Lindex
and
KappAhl.
Corporate
Facebook
page
activity
and
email
communication
performed
by
these
companies
has
been
mapped
for
two
weeks
between
2012-‐02-‐10
and
2012-‐02-‐23.
To
receive
the
best
apprehension
possible,
regarding
relationship
management
with
members,
a
membership
in
all
three
clubs
has
been
started.
The
most
relevant,
diverse
and/
or
interesting
aspects,
which
distinguishes
differences
in
social
media
integration
of
a
loyalty
programme
and
relationship
building
in
social
media,
will
be
presented
in
the
analysis
below.
3.2
Activities
and
Analysis
To
provide
linkages
between
different
platforms
and
communities
are
a
way
to
create
interaction
and
conversation
(Keitzmann
et
al,
2011).
All
three
companies
are
trying
to
increase
interaction
by
integrating
Facebook,
YouTube
and
Blog
links,
in
the
end
of
every
membership
club
newsletter
(Appendix
1-‐P1).
To
provide
a
link
to
other
medias
are
facilitating
for
the
customer
to
reach
the
company
and
develop
a
bond
with
the
community,
which
is
beneficial
when
trying
to
achieve
loyalty
online
(Chernatony,
2001).
To
offer
real-‐time
chat
with
KappAhl’s
collection
chief
on
Facebook
is
another
attempt
to
create
interaction
(Appendix
1-‐P2).
This
is
regarded
as
an
engaging
online
activity
where
two-‐way
conversations
can
be
performed.
To
use
Facebook
in
this
manner
is,
according
to
Armelini
and
Villanueva
(2011),
promising
for
creating
relationships
online.
It
can
also
benefit
both
customer
(who
receives
answers
to
its
questions)
and
company
(who
discover
what
trends
or
aspects
of
business
that
customers
are
interested
in).
8
9.
An
activity
to
inform
and
facilitate
customer
efforts
is
the
column
“My
Info”
which
is
present
in
all
KappAhls
membership
newsletter
dispatches
(Appendix
1-‐
P3).
Here,
individual
membership
data,
how
many
credits
one
have
collected
and
how
many
credits
you
need
to
receive
a
bonus
check,
is
presented.
This
is
an
offering
that
informs
customers
without
the
customer
having
to
make
an
effort,
and
therefore
it
can
be
perceived
as
a
type
of
support
system
(Bernoff
and
Li,
2008).
Focusing
on
online
relationship
management
through
Facebook,
interesting
and
diverse
interaction
styles
performed
by
the
three
companies
have
been
discovered.
Starting
with
H&M,
almost
every
day
a
post
following
the
same
structure
is
uploaded
(Appendix
2-‐P1).
Firstly
a
trend
is
defined
e.g.
“Bright
Colour”,
“Pink”
or
“Blouses”.
After
the
trend
a
question
similar
to
“Which
one
is
your
favourite
this
spring?”
is
stated
referring
to
pictures
incorporated
below
the
text.
This
type
of
post
is
engaging
since
it
encourages
Facebook
followers
to
give
their
opinion.
It
is
an
easy
way
for
customers
to
express
their
preferences
and
occasionally
the
different
pictures
are
numbered
which
is
increasingly
facilitating
(Appendix
2-‐P2).
By
allowing
customers
to
share
their
thoughts,
H&M
discovers
what
is
popular
and
what
to
focus
on
for
satisfying
customers.
If
H&M
succeeds
in
embracing
customer
comments
and
ideas,
they
will
increase
customer
value,
which
is
beneficial
for
creating
relationships
(Bernoff
and
Li,
2008;
Chernatony,
2001).
In
that
case,
their
interaction
style
will
create
mutual
benefits
and
it
can
be
implied
that
social
media
opportunities
are
used
efficiently
(Rowley,
2004).
Another
example
illustrating
H&M’s
effort
to
create
mutual
exchange
is
posted
questions
such
as
“What
is
the
first
sign
of
spring?”
By
mapping
the
answers
H&M
distinguishes
what
customers
want
and
what
they
should
focus
on
promoting
in
early
spring.
On
the
other
hand,
customers
will
find
that
the
items
they
preferred
are
available
in
stores
at
the
right
time
(Appendix
2-‐
P3).
Continuing,
Lindex
are
creating
posts
such
as
“Get
the
Friday
Look”
which
is
a
picture
montage
usually
containing
four
clothing
pieces.
First
a
trend
e.g.
“Colour”
is
stated
followed
by
some
informative
sentences
about
the
garments
presented
in
the
collage
(Appendix
3-‐P1).
Lindex
does
not
end
with
a
question,
which
in
comparison
to
H&M,
implies
that
there
are
interacting
opportunities
that
are
not
used
efficiently.
Even
though
customers
have
the
freedom
of
commenting
and
deliver
opinions
about
the
clothes
in
the
comment
field,
consumers
might
only
respond
to
the
post
if
they
are
distinctively
influenced
positive
or
negative
by
the
post.
Engagement
from
the
masses
is
not
encouraged
through
this
interaction
style
and
opinions
about
customer
preferences
between
different
garments
are
not
revealed.
Since
the
more
interaction
implies
the
better
customer
knowledge,
Lindex
might
be
missing
out
on
information
leading
to
better
customer
understanding
(Stauss,
et
al.,
2001).
To
upload
posts
that
are
not
inviting
customers
to
participate
might
be
compared
to
sending
out
one-‐way
communication
messages,
which
is
not
the
right
type
of
activity
to
perform
on
Facebook
(Armelini
and
Villanueva,
2011).
This
implies
that
opportunity
for
creating
superior
value
is
not
efficiently
used,
which
in
that
case
result
in
missed
prospects
for
enhancing
customer
relationships.
9
10.
KappAhl
seem
to
use
a
combination
between
H&M’s
and
Lindex’s
way
of
communicate
on
Facebook.
Similar
to
the
other
two
companies
they
state
a
trend
such
as
“Pastels”
and
then
they
occasionally
end
with
a
question
such
as:
“How
do
you
feel
about
it?”
(Appendix
4-‐P1).
To
end
a
Facebook
post
with
a
question
can
be,
as
discussed
above,
encouraging
and
inviting
to
customer
conversation.
KappAhl’s
question
however,
in
comparison
to
H&M’s,
is
more
diffuse
and
might
therefore
be
harder
for
the
customer
to
answer.
To
state
a
general
question,
might
also
be
a
sign
of
efficiency
waste,
since
the
question
will
not
reveal
customer
preferences
and
what
customers
need
to
become
satisfied.
In
line
with
the
argument
about
Lindex,
KappAhl
can
be
considered
to
not
use
the
relationship
building
opportunities,
which
are
offered
by
Facebook,
to
its
fullest
(Armelini
and
Villanueva
2011;
Keitzmann,
et
al.,
2011).
All
companies
illustrated
inability
to
respond
to
questions
or
discussions
on
the
Facebook
page.
This
finding
is
interesting
and
can
at
first
thought
be
considered
as
an
obvious
mistake
made
by
the
companies.
It
is
suggested
that
companies
should
listen
and
respond
to
what
customers
are
saying
at
online
communities
and
that
they
should
provide
a
support
system
that
tracks
and
help
customers
in
need
(Bernoff
and
Li,
2008;
Chernatony,
2001).
This
implies
that
customer
questions
or
problems
should
be
answered
to.
Companies
must
however
decide
when
it
is
beneficial,
and
not
risky,
to
join
an
online
discussion
(Keitzmann,
et
al.,
2011).
One
example
when
H&M
did
not
intrude
a
conversation
was
when
a
model
in
an
underwear
advertisement
is
claimed
for
being
retouched
by
a
customer
(Appendix
2-‐P4).
It
is
debatable
whether
this
had
positive
or
negative
impact
on
H&M’s
customer
relationships.
To
engage
in
the
conversation
might
have
prevented
some
customers
to
loose
trust
in
H&M
it
might
also
have
led
to
H&M
interrupting
customers
at
the
wrong
time.
It
seems
hard
to
determine
when
it
is
right
to
join
a
customer
conversation,
but
to
give
answers
to
direct
questions
will
most
definitely
enhance
long-‐term
relationships,
since
it
is
fundamental
to
commit
to
customers
online
(Armelini
and
Villanueva,
2011).
10
11. 4
Conclusion
_____________________________________________________________________________________________
This
study
finds
that
loyalty
programme
efforts,
up
until
today
are
not
dramatically
different
from
offerings
and
activities
promoted
offline
(Liebermann,
1999).
Overall,
the
three
companies
were
performing
similar
membership
club
activities
where
online
loyalty
programs
are
incorporating
social
media
to
an
extent
that
Facebook
pages,
events,
YouTube
and
blog
posts
are
presented
in
the
newsletter
received
by
email.
Therefore
the
online
loyalty
programme
in
itself
is
not
regarded
as
relationship
building,
but
rather
it
seems
like
relationships
are
created
through
other
social
media
platforms.
To
link
and
refer
to
e.g.
the
corporate
Facebook
page
in
individual
membership
newsletters
is
therefor
seen
as
a
way
to
guide
the
members
to
online
platforms
that
are
more
successful
for
creating
or
maintaining
relationships.
Having
generated
club
members
e.g.
to
a
Facebook
page,
this
study
suggests
that
some
activities
are
more
efficient
for
maintaining
customer
relationships.
Engagement
is
considered
to
be
a
relationship
building
block
that
is
fundamental
to
strive
for
in
all
relational
managing
activities.
The
company
that
achieves
to
create
engagement
at
an
online
community
will
also
have
a
better
chance
for
maintaining
loyal
customer
relationships
(Chernatony,
2001).
Different
interaction
styles,
e.g.
how
Facebook
posts
are
formatted,
is
suggested
to
result
in
different
levels
of
engagement.
Posts
that
encourage
interaction
and
that
makes
it
easy
for
customers
to
reply
and
participate,
seem
to
be
beneficial
for
creating
engagement
and
thereby
online
relationships.
By
tracking
what
customers
are
saying
online,
the
increased
customer
power
can
be
used
as
a
tool
for
gaining
insights
to
enhance
customer
value
(Bernoff
and
Li,
2008;
Chernatony,
2001).
Limitations
and
Further
Research
It
is
important
to
recognize
that
this
has
been
a
preliminary
study
that
has
been
based
on
three
limited
case
studies.
Customer
insights,
regarding
customers’
interpretation
and
perception
of
company
membership
offerings
and
relationship
building
activities,
have
not
been
included.
Evidence
supporting
that
these
different
activities
have
enhanced
relationships
and
created
loyalty
is
therefore
missing
which
results
in
low
reliability
for
the
study.
Future
research
should
aim
to
explore
membership
clubs
online
more
extensively
and
which
prospects
the
membership
club
in
itself,
offer
in
terms
of
relationship
building
online.
11
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13
14. Appendix
1-‐
Membership
Club
Activities
P1:
Links
to
other
Social
Medias
in
Individual
Membership
Newsletter
H&M
KappAhl
Lindex
Source:
Private
email
account,
H&M
2012-‐02-‐17,
KappAhl
2012-‐02-‐15,
Lindex
2012-‐02-‐23
P2:
KappAhl
Real-‐time
Chat
on
Facebook
Page
14
15. Source:
KappAhl
Facebook
page
accessed
2012-‐02-‐16
(http://www.facebook.com/KappAhl)
P3:
“My
Info”-‐
Individual
Data
Offered
by
KappAhl
in
Membership
Newsletter
Source:
Private
email
account,
KappAhl
2012-‐02-‐15
15
