Is It Brand Loyalty or Brainwashing?

The term brand loyalty according to Google is “when a customer consistently chooses a brand over its competitors, even when other options are cheaper or more convenient”. Brand loyalty according to Professor Miyazaki is “how someone feels or acts toward a brand”. Everyone is loyal to different brands for different reasons, whether it’s a particular soap or detergent you use in your house, your favorite fast-food chain, or even your favorite grocery store. We’re all loyal to a particular brand to some degree, whether you like Target over Walmart, Dove body wash over Native, or Alo over Lululemon there is always a reason why we choose a particular brand over another. The reasons vary from culture, religion, personal preferences, emotional connections, etc…

Take Starbucks for example; Starbucks customers are extremely loyal to the company; I should know I’m a very loyal Starbucks customer. Whenever someone asks me, what should they get me for Christmas or my birthday?, one of my answers is always a Starbucks gift card. I go to Starbucks and order something from there almost 2-3 times a week, I am constantly building my points at Starbucks, I own multiple cups from there, the list goes on. I am a very avid and loyal Starbucks customer, if you were to ask some of my friends and family, they might tell you I’m addicted or possibly even brainwashed.

Starbucks influenced me to become more loyal through various strategies and incentives. The first is with their points system, or what they refer to as ‘your stars’, through their points system the more points you get the more incentives you receive. If you have 25 stars you can customize your drink for free, 100 stars you can get a free bakery item, the more stars you own the more you get. Their star system allows you to save money at times and purchase certain merchandise or get free drinks and other items, by using your stars. The second would be the surprise or random incentives that they offer throughout the year. They have certain days or times when they have double or triple star days for qualifying purchases. During the holiday season this year they gave out free reusable red Starbucks cups one day. They use a series of incentives and giveaways throughout the year. Starbucks is always finding a new way to gain new customers or excite and retain their current ones.

It doesn’t help that Starbucks offers a quick and convenient service that isn’t offered everywhere else. I can be driving, and I’ll always pass a Starbucks almost as often as I’ll pass by a McDonalds. People will wait in long lines for Starbucks no matter the circumstances or offers from nearby competitors due to the loyalty they have gained from their customers. Several brands use similar marketing strategies to Starbucks in order to gain and maintain brand loyalty from customers. Several companies have some sort of reward system that offers you discounts or deals when you spend a certain amount of money or make a specific number of qualifying purchases. Other company’s may give you a punch card with the deal being that if you buy 5 drinks and bring your punch card, the 6th drink will be free. Different brands offer different incentives to gain consumer loyalty.

Consumers are loyal to brands based on several factors such as; what emotions the brand may provoke, if the brand offers any incentives, if they like the product(s) that the brand offers, if the brands mission and values align with their mission and values, if consumers feel as though they will get their money’s worth from the brand in terms of quality or rewards, the reasons are endless. There are endless ways for marketers to gain and maintain “loyal” customers, they just have to find the right methods that align with their business practices.