Nr 33 2014 folia turistica multidimensionality and determinants of consumer loyalty in tourist services

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

LOYALTY 

OF CUSTOMERS 

OF TOURIST 

loyalty to brand 

 

loyalty to offer  

category 

 loyalty to staff 

loyalty to the place 

of purchase 

loyalty to 

the community 

loyalty to 

an organization 

Figure 2. Loyalty objects of clients of a tourist enterprise

Source: Cf. 

Michalska-Dudek [2013, p. 199] based on 

Urban, Siemieniako [2008, p. 9].

The most favorable situation for tourist enterprises is definitely the one 

in which a consumer is loyal to all the above-mentioned loyalty objects, i.e., 

brand,  product,  staff,  place  of  purchase,  community,  and  organization,  as 

this substantially minimizes the risk of his or her loss.

Loyalty to each of the above objects is related to different elements of 

a consumer’s attitude, which can be influenced by the purchase experience 

7

  W. Urban and D. Siemieniako [2008] claim that it is definitely easiest to gain loyalty 

in terms of a place and staff. However, these loyalty types are not decisive about establishing 

durable, long-lasting loyalty; therefore, after winning these loyalty types, it is worth initiating 

quick efforts to establish loyalty towards its remaining objects.

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MULTIDIMENSIONALITY AND DETERMINANTS OF CONSUMER...

and can have an impact on his or her emotions (affective dimension) and 

thus have an impact on his or her future behavior (behavioral dimension).

For many years, an attempt to identify the determinants of customer 

loyalty  has  been  considered  an  important  objective  of  the  conducted  re-

search. The studies on loyalty multidimensionality concentrate on two ma-

jor research trends: problems associated with the establishment of loyalty, 

and the results related to loyalty. The first group refers to the research fo-

cused on the identification of loyalty antecedents, whereas the second group 

concentrates on its consequences.

On the basis of consecutive research covering the problems of the es-

tablishment  of  loyalty  and  conditions,  its  subsequent  determinants  were 

indicated. In general, two groups of factors influencing loyalty can be distin-

guished [

Kwiatek 2007, p. 38 cited in Smyczek 2001, p. 39]

:

– 

endogenous factors (internal, consumer-related), which refer directly to 

consumers and are related to their subjective perception of reality (e.g., 

risk, expected benefits, and involvement level in a particular purchas-

ing process),

– 

exogenous factors (external, environment-related), which function outside 

of consumers (e.g., brand characteristics, enterprise range extensiveness, 

offer quality, market or sector conditions, and market saturation level)

.

One can assume that the loyalty of clients is influenced by the mutual 

interaction  of  four  main  factor  groups:  consumer  characteristics,  brand, 

social  environment  qualities,  and  market  conditions  (Fig.  3)  [cf. 

Kwiatek 

2007, p. 39; Urban, Siemieniako 2008, p. 9].