Retention effects

of a customer
club
7
International Journal of Service
Industry Management,
Vol. 12 No. 1, 2001, pp. 7-19.
# MCB University Press, 0956-4233
Received March 2000
Revised November 2000
Accepted January 2001
Retention effects of a
customer club
Bernd Stauss
Calhc// ln/ters/lv c/ E/hslaell/lngc/sladl, lngc/sladl, (ermanv
Klaus Chojnacki
Vc//suagen A(, Tc//s/urg, (ermanv
Alexander Decker
Cuslcmer Re/al/cnsh/ Managemenl (m/H, Mun/h, (ermanv, and
Frank Hoffmann
ln/ters/lv c/ E/hslaell/lngc/sladl, lngc/sladl, (ermanv
Keywords Cuslcmer /cva/lv, Cuslcmer sal/s/al/cn, Ccnsumer /ehat/cur
Abstract Cuslcmer /u/s /e/cng lc lhe mcsl /mcrlanl and arl/u/ar/v csl/nlens/te e/emenls
c/ uslcmer relenl/cn svslems 8v c//er/ng se/// adtanlages lc /u/ mem/ers, lhev are
sucsed lc /nrease uslcmer sal/s/al/cn and /cva/lv Hcueter, u lc ncu lhere /s nc erla/nlv
u/lh resel lc lhe ex/slene and degree c/ lhe exeled /cva/lv e//els Thus, lhere sl/// /s a/sc nc
su////enl /cundal/cn /cr an esl/mal/cn uhelher /nteslmenls /n uslcmer /u/s an /e /usl///ed /n
cmar/scn lc setera/ a/lernal/tes c/ ga/n/ng neu uslcmers cr uslcmer relenl/cn Tc //// lh/s
ga /n /n/crmal/cn, lh/s aer /cuses cn lhe uesl/cn c/ uh/h //nd c/ relenl/cn e//els c/
uslcmer /u/s m/ghl ex/sl and uhelher lhere /s a s/enl/// et/dene c/ lhese e//els ln lhe //rsl
sle, a lhecrel/a/ mcde/ and rccs/l/cns c/ d///erenl relenl/cn e//els c/ uslcmer /u/s are
dete/ced A/leruards lhe resu/ls c/ an em/r/a/ sludv amcng mem/ers c/ lhe Volkswagen
Customer Club, (ermanv`s /argesl aulcmcl/te uslcmer /u/ are resenled Thev /nd/ale lhal
uslcmer /u/ sal/s/al/cn has a remar/a//e /mal cn lhe uslcmer`s re/al/cnsh/ sal/s/al/cn
and uslcmer relenl/cn Ccnseuenl/v /l an /e cn/uded lhal a uslcmer /u/ erla/n/v /s an
/mcrlanl /ssue c/ relenl/cn managemenl
Introduction
Today's companies find themselves more and more in a situation in which they
have to build professional customer retention management systems. There are
two main reasons for doing so, on the one hand, the costs of gaining new
customers in highly competitive markets are increasing considerably. On the
other hand, the profitability of an individual customer grows permanently with
the duration of the business-relationship (Reichheld and Sasser, 1990).
Customer clubs are among the most comprehensive strategic instruments
companies can use for creating customer retention. As an institutionalized form
of added-value services, they aim at offering club members a wide range of
benefits and increase customer satisfaction and loyalty. However, it has to be
considered that the set up and development of a customer club requires
considerable investments. Whereas the cost effects of these investments are
obvious and can be calculated rather easily, there is no certainty with respect to
the existence and degree of the expected loyalty effects. Thus, managers often
have no basis for answering the question, whether the customer club
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IJSIM
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investments are justified or whether the actually achieved retention effects
could have been attained by a less costly retention tool. Up to now rather little
theoretical and empirical research on the retention effects of customer clubs has
been conducted. Therefore, the major goal of this paper is to contribute to the
reduction of this information gap. For this purpose, a theoretical model of the
retention effects of customer clubs is developed. It builds the basis for the
deduction of a set of propositions, which are tested in an empirical study
among members of the Volkswagen customer club, the largest club in the
German automotive industry.
Customer clubs
Customer clubs are communities of current customers that are initiated and
organized by companies (Diller, 1997; Butscher, 1997; Butscher and Muller,
1999). The current customers are approached for a potential membership to
enable a steady direct communication and to intensify the relationship during
the total time of business relation (Tomzcak and Dittrich, 1999).
The creation of customer clubs has only begun to take off recently by many
manufacturing and service companies in different industrial sectors. The total
number of German customer clubs is currently estimated to be several
hundreds. Customer clubs are especially widespread in sectors like retailing,
financial services, media and consumer articles with a high degree of
involvement (Butscher, 1997).
Even if companies might have different targets in dependence of
performance and market situation, they normally share a common set of goals
which they want to achieve by setting up a customer club.
One substantial final goal is the improvement of general operational
profitability by customer retention. The retention effect is supposed to be
achieved via the following: customer interaction effect, customer knowledge
effect, and customer benefit effect.
Acustomer club is regarded as a suitable platformto increase the interaction
frequency between company and customer (customer interaction effect) by
creating contact and feedback opportunities. By doing so, a close contact is
built around the client throughout the entire customer life cycle (Diller, 1997).
A central objective of customer clubs is the augmentation of organizational
knowledge about the customer (customer knowledge effect). With each
customer contact starting from the registration the organization receives
detailed information about the personal situation, interests and demand
structures of the members. These insights are collected in a global member
data base and linked with further customer data, which form the basis for
individualized marketing measures (Butscher, 1998). The customer knowledge
effect is more attainable the more the organization succeeds in enriching the
data base by various interactions. To that extent a customer interaction effect
is a prerequisite for a customer knowledge effect.
The customer's willingness for a membership depends on the fact whether a
distinct advantage is offered to them (customer benefit effect). Customers are
Retention effects
of a customer
club
9
only willing to supply data and participate actively in the ``club life,'' if their
individual cost-benefit-calculation leads to a positive result. Therefore the
customer club must offer a bundle of mostly exclusive services, which are
attractive for the target group from either a financial, material or
communicative perspective. Also, the offered chances for interaction can be
perceived as advantages by the members. In this case, the realized advantages
of the customer interaction effect become an integral part of the customer
benefit effect.
Club managers can rely on a differentiated set of product, price,
communication and distribution issues to organize the customer benefits
(Diller, 1996b) and can therefore act in the same way as one would with the
traditional marketing-mix. The club-specific product-mix can consist of goods
(e.g. merchandising articles) and services (e.g. guarantees) of the specific club-
operating company or its co-operating partners. The price-mix contains usually
member discounts (Butscher, 1998), favorable conditions of payment as well as
financial advantages via bonus programs. Communication issues are of great
importance for the interaction with the customer. Club managers therefore set
up club magazines, direct mailings or special club service centers (Gruter and
Rudolph, 1999) in order to build up and keep contacts with their members
(Butscher, 1997). Distribution performances play a rather subordinate role in a
customer club. An exclusive access to club-specific IT-networks could be one
example for a distribution issue (Diller, 1996b).
In order to achieve a customer benefit effect, organizations have to make
substantial efforts. On the one hand, initial investments must be made for
setting up a specific club-infrastructure. On the other hand, the direct costs for
free financing or discounted services for their members must be covered by the
organization. Additionally, current staff and other costs appear which are
connected with managing a customer club (Butscher and Muller, 1999). In view
of such an extensive capital commitment on the part of the organization, one
would have to assume that there are no doubts about the appropriateness of the
customer club-instrument in reaching the above targets. But taking a view on
the current status of research, it becomes evident that no satisfying results are
available concerning the appropriateness of reaching the set targets of a
customer club. It appears that questions regarding the retention effects of
customer clubs are only very rarely discussed (Diller, 1996b). Additionally, the
conclusions don't lead to a reliable and valid result.
Therefore it seems justified to take a differentiated view on the assumed
relations between customer club membership and expected economic success
(Customer Club Retention Chain). Subsequently, a substantial part of this
relationship chain will be the focus of an empirical examination.
The customer club retention chain
At first glance, it is assumed that the desired effects lead directly to customer
retention and subsequently to economic success. A more exact view of the
connections however results into a more complex picture. This issue will be
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called the Customer Club Retention Chain in the following and needs to be
analyzed further (see also Figure 1).
First of all, there has to be a differentiation between a direct and an indirect
retention effect of customer clubs.
The d/rel relenl/cn e//el is based on the customer benefit effect. It is
achieved if the club member develops a loyal relationship to the company only
because of his or her membership and the associated perceived benefits. This is
the case e.g., if the customer feels a stronger identification with the corporation
and is willing to be more loyal, because of the various benefits he or she as a
club member can use (e.g. price advantages or special services such as a club
magazine).
An /nd/rel relenl/cn e//el is a consequence of the knowledge effects. It is
reached, if the organization is able to serve the customer in a one-to-one
marketing approach due to the data supplied by a club member. By doing so,
the organization is able to offer the customer a more individualized set of
products and services and gets the chance to increase profits by cross-selling.
This type of customer retention is indirect, because it is not primarily caused
by the customers' evaluation of their club experiences, but instead by an
analysis and use of the customer data bank enriched by the customer club.
The customer interaction effect has indirect as well as direct effects, because
customer interactions on the one hand may lead to an improvement of the
organizational knowledge about the customer, on the other hand it will be
perceived by the customer as a part of club services.
In the following, the focus will exclusively be on direct retention effects.
Therefore the relationship between club activities which are used and
evaluated by club members and their retention effects will be looked at on a
more differentiated level. Consequently further elements are to be inserted into
this part of the customer club retention chain. The main elements of this direct
Figure 1.
Customer club
retention chain
Retention effects
of a customer
club
11
customer club retention chain between customer club activities and their
economic effects are customer club satisfaction, relationship satisfaction and
customer retention (see Figure 2).
Cuslcmer /u/ sal/s/al/cn refers to the satisfaction of members with all
aspects of the customer club. Assuming the conventional understanding of
satisfaction according to the disconfirmation paradigm (Oliver, 1997), customer
club satisfaction is the result of a complex comparison of expectations and
perceptions of the member referring to his or her own customer club contacts.
The customer club satisfaction can basically refer to three areas of
performance and experience:
(1) Services and benefits of the customer club that are offered by the club
itself to its members, e.g. a club magazine or material advantages such
as loyalty points (CC Oun 5ert/e 5al/s/al/cn).
(2) Services which are offered by co-operating partners of the club and can
be used by club members at more favorable conditions, e.g. special rates
for hotels or car rental services (CC Exlerna/ 5ert/e 5al/s/al/cn).
(3) Handling of customer-club-specific transactions, e.g. registration or
procedures for crediting benefits (CC Hand//ng 5al/s/al/cn).
Following this differentiation, it becomes obvious that customer club
satisfaction not only results from the performance quality of the club itself, but
also depends on the performance quality of the co-operating partners. This
applies in any case to all services offered by external service providers, but can
also apply to the handling of club transactions, if intermediaries such as
dealers in the automotive industry are at least partly responsible for these
activities.
Cuslcmer re/al/cnsh/ sal/s/al/cn is the overall satisfaction of a customer
with all past contacts and during the total period of a business relationship.
Thus, it represents an aggregation of all customer experiences with the
organization (Liljander and Strandvik, 1995; Stauss and Seidel, 1998).
Cuslcmer relenl/cn is regarded here from a behavioral perspective, meaning
that the customer feels close and committed to the organization and is
Figure 2.
Direct customer club
retention chain
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accordingly willing to behave loyally, e.g. by recommending the supplier and
repurchasing his products and services (Diller, 1996a; Diller and Mullner, 1998;
Gremler and Brown, 1998; Homburg el a/., 1999; Oliver, 1999).
When it comes down to the relations between the various parts of the
customer club retention chain, most experts agree on the fact that relationship
satisfaction is a substantial prerequisite for customer retention. But regarding
the relationship between customer club satisfaction and the other constructs a
differentiated viewis necessary.
Positive and negative customer experiences with the club are at the same
time important contact experiences with the company as a whole. Resulting
from this, it appears obvious that customer club satisfaction can be regarded as
a determinant of relationship satisfaction and, therefore has an indirect
influence on customer retention. Beyond that, it is also conceivable that
customer club satisfaction has also a direct influence on customer retention, e.g.
because the customer is not willing to give up the prestigious advantages
resulting fromthe preferential treatment as a club member.
Regarding this influence of customer club satisfaction it also can be assumed
that this does not only apply to the overall satisfaction, but also to the
individual dimensions of the customer club satisfaction (CC Own Service
Satisfaction, CC External Service Satisfaction and CC Handling Satisfaction).
The substantial assumptions concerning the direct customer club retention
chain are discussed in detail in the following six propositions.
Assuming that club members are satisfied this satisfaction should result in
higher customer relationship satisfaction and customer retention. Therefore, it
can be expected that members have a higher overall relationship satisfaction
and a stronger customer retention than non-members.
Accordingly, propositions 1 and 2 read:
l1: The relationship satisfaction of customer club members is higher than
that of non-members.
l?: The customer retention of customer club members is stronger than that
of non-members.
In these two propositions however customer club satisfaction is considered as
given. Considering this construct explicitly, customer club satisfaction should
imply that satisfied customer club members are also more satisfied with the
relationship and show higher customer retention scores than indifferent and
dissatisfied customer club members.
Accordingly, propositions 3 and 4 read:
lS: The relationship satisfaction of satisfied customer club members is
higher than that of indifferent and dissatisfied club members.
l4: The customer retention of satisfied customer club members is stronger
than that of indifferent and dissatisfied customer club members.
Regarding the single dimensions of customer club satisfaction, it can be
assumed that they not only influence the overall customer club satisfaction, but
Retention effects
of a customer
club
13
also have a direct effect on customer relationship satisfaction and customer
retention. Accordingly, it can be stated:
lo: The individual dimensions of customer club satisfaction (own service
satisfaction, external service satisfaction and handling satisfaction)
have a direct influence on relationship satisfaction.
l6: The individual dimensions of customer club satisfaction (own service
satisfaction, external service satisfaction and handling satisfaction)
have a direct influence on customer retention.
Research design
The se/el/cn c/ lhe uslcmer /u/ as c//el c/ /ntesl/gal/cn
To test the propositions, an adequate customer club had to be found. While
choosing a club, attention had to be paid to several conditions, which are
necessary in order to be able to make reliable predictions of the retention
effects.
A substantial prerequisite consists in the fact that possible proven retention
effects can actually be attributed to the club membership. That does not apply
in many cases. If the membership is initiated by the customer, it is most
probably the fact that customers decide to join the club who are positively
attached and committed to the company. Consequently, proven customer
retention would be a prerequisite rather than a consequence of the club (Diller,
1997). In order to be able to exclude this selection effect for the empirical study
(Diller, 1996b), a club had to be found, which approaches customers to become a
club member and does not leave the initiative to them.
Beyond this, it has to be considered that retention effects only can appear
due to a certain experience with the club and thus only after a longer club
membership (Diller, 1997). Therefore a required research object had to be a club
with an existence of several years and a considerable amount of experienced
members.
By selecting the Volkswagen Club, a research object could be acquired
which fulfilled both conditions. The Volkswagen Club is the first and largest
German customer club in the automotive industry. At present it has
approximately 1 million members. Since the club was established in 1995, it is
assumed that retention effects can be proven, because it contains a sufficient
amount of club members with an experience of several years. Furthermore, the
described selection effect of customer clubs cannot take place, since the
Volkswagen Club uses a different approach to acquire its members. The
question whether to enter the club is not up to the customers but up to the
dealers. They have the choice as to who of their clients should become a
member of the club. As a consequence, probable retention effects are not to be
interpreted as a result of the self-selection effect.
In general, the Volkswagen Club offers a benefit program to its members
which can be divided into six elements as shown in Figure 3.
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To start with, the Volkswagen Club operates an individual customer contact
program. This direct mailing concept offers a welcome package, four mailings
with seasonal offers and one product-related mailing. A second benefit which
the club sends to its members is the Vc//suagen Maga./ne, a 100-page journal
with stories and up-to-date information about Volkswagen in general. The
third component, the service center, offers a wide range of benefits, such as
route-planning, dial-up-traffic news and a ticket agency. In addition, a number
of specific products are offered for the members in the club shop. The most
important part of the Volkswagen Club program is the bonus program. It offers
the members a chance to collect bonus points every time, he or she purchases
something from Volkswagen or from one of the co-operating partners. These
points can then either be changed again to gifts of the Volkswagen
organization (Chojnacki, 2000) or can be added as discounts on the invoices of a
local Volkswagen dealer.
lrccs/l/cns and researh melhcd
To operationalize the above-mentioned constructs, the researchers relied on a
modified version of proven scales. In view of the superiority of direct
satisfaction scales compared to indirect scales (Cronin and Taylor, 1992; Teas,
1993, 1994; Stauss, 1999) a direct five-point scale ranging from ``very satisfied''
to ``very dissatisfied'' was chosen.
Concerning the customer club satisfaction, the different club services and
benefits were listed (e.g. traffic-pilot telephone, route planning, club magazine),
and members were asked to indicate the degree of their satisfaction on the
Figure 3.
Services components of
the Volkswagen club
Retention effects
of a customer
club
15
scale. The same procedure was applied on the external service satisfaction
offered by the co-operating partners. The degree of satisfaction with the
handling of club-specific transactions by dealers was measured by one single
satisfaction item. The same applies to relationship satisfaction, which was
conceptualized as satisfaction with the Volkswagen brand.
Regarding customer retention, a proven concept of operationalization by
Diller (1997) was applied. It includes emotional-cognitive retention constructs
(liking, identification, commitment, trust) as well as behavioral intentions
(willingness to recommend and repurchase intention).
A written questionnaire was developed according to Churchill's (1979)
recommendations for the development of measuring instruments for marketing
constructs. Following his three-stage research process, qualitative preliminary
studies, pre-tests and a quantitative main survey were conducted. The most
important elements of the qualitative preliminary studies were interviews with
experts and focus group interviews with customer club members to determine
the relevant attributes of customer club satisfaction. The questionnaire
developed on this basis was then submitted to a pre-test and modified after its
analysis.
The final questionnaire was sent to 1,068 club members, who were randomly
chosen from the data base of the customer club. The return generated 371
usable questionnaires, so that a response rate of 36.5 per cent was achieved.
In order to be able to compare the results also with those from Volkswagen
drivers without club membership, a shortened version of the questionnaire
with questions relating to relationship satisfaction and customer retention was
created additionally. This questionnaire was used in oral interviews with a
convenience sample of 161 Volkswagen drivers without club membership. It
was made sure that the structure in the given samples was alike.
Resu/ls
To check for significant differences between the regarded group averages,
l-tests were conducted. Regarding l1, the analysis shows that there is a
significant distinction ( 0.05) between customer club members and non-
members in their relationship satisfaction. With an average of 1.83, customer
club members show a significantly higher satisfaction with Volkswagen than
non-members (average: 2.13). Therefore, l1 can be accepted.
l? is also supported by the findings of the survey. Regarding all items of
customer retention (liking, commitment, identification, trust, recommendation
and repurchase intention) customer club members indicate significantly higher
averages ( 0.05) than non-members. The differences are particularly clear
for commitment and identification. Thus, customer club members actually feel
more tied to Volkswagen than non-members.
Regarding both propositions it can be noted that the assumed customer club
satisfaction really exists. However it only reaches an average score of 2.52. It is
more remarkable that customer club experiences have such a positive effect on
relationship satisfaction and customer retention.
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The test of lS shows that there is a significant difference ( 0.05) between
relationship satisfaction of satisfied club members and that of indifferent or
dissatisfied club members (see Figure 4). Thus, lS can be accepted.
As a consequence, it can be stated that customer club satisfaction can
actually be regarded as a new determinant of relationship satisfaction and
offers besides other components like product satisfaction and dealer
satisfaction (Bloemer and Lemmink, 1992) a contribution for its explanation.
Interestingly, in this study overall dealer satisfaction even had a smaller
influence on relationship satisfaction than customer club satisfaction. However,
it must be mentioned that while the club was the focus of this study, the
important quality dimension ``product satisfaction'' was not included in the
survey.
The summarizing chart in Figure 5 represents the results referring to the
relation between customer club satisfaction and customer retention. The
different profiles of the curves for the satisfied customer club members on the
one hand and the indifferent and dissatisfied members on the other hand are
clearly recognizable. Because these differences are also significant (with
0.05), l4 can be confirmed as well.
lo and l6 assumed that the individual dimensions of the customer club
satisfaction (CC Own Service Satisfaction, CC External Service Satisfaction and
CC Handling Satisfaction) not only determine the degree of customer club
satisfaction, but also have a direct influence on relationship satisfaction and
customer retention. The results of the proposition tests are presented here only
with respect to handling satisfaction, for two reasons. First, the satisfaction of
the members who used external services of the club could not be integrated into
the analysis, because the number of customers who actually used these services
was too small. Second, the CC Handling Satisfaction is of particular interest,
because the car dealers execute substantial functions with regards to customer
club activities. Thus, it is to be expected that the dealer and the quality of
transaction handling influences the retention effect of the club considerably.
Figure 4.
Results of testing lS
Retention effects
of a customer
club
17
The analysis of the results shows that the assumed effect is actually given.
Customer club members who are satisfied with their dealer with regard to the
club activities, indicate not only a higher satisfaction with the club, but also a
significantly higher relationship satisfaction ( 0.05). lo is therefore
confirmed. Also l6, which contains the assumption that the satisfaction with
handling activities of the dealer affects customer retention, can be accepted.
Customer club members who are satisfied with the handling activities of their
dealer, indicate a significantly higher customer retention than indifferent and
dissatisfied members.
Discussion and management implications
The essential result of the described study is the fact that a customer club
cannot only obtain an indirect retention effect for organizations because of the
use of an improved customer data base, but that a direct retention effect
actually can be achieved with regard to higher relationship satisfaction and
customer retention. Customer club members definitely show a higher degree of
relationship satisfaction and customer retention than non-members.
Since the satisfaction and retention effect increases with the degree of
satisfaction, customer club satisfaction is a special construct which requires
particular attention in the field of relationship management. Customer
club satisfaction is obviously an additional substantial dimension of
relationship satisfaction. Accordingly, it is not sufficient any more only to
monitor product satisfaction and service satisfaction regularly, but it is
essential to merge customer club satisfaction into an integrated measuring
system. Besides that, it seems necessary to examine the relative importance of
product satisfaction, service satisfaction and customer club satisfaction for
relationship satisfaction and customer retention. This appears inevitable for
Figure 5.
Results of testing l4
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establishing an informational basis for the prioritization of satisfaction-
increasing measures.
Since the single dimensions of customer club satisfaction obviously do not
only influence the customer club satisfaction, but also have a direct effect on
relationship satisfaction and customer retention, it also seems necessary to
determine the importance of these dimensions and their individual attributes.
This applies in particular in view of the fact that external club services and
handling activities experienced by club members are not under (full) control of
the organization or the customer club management. The results of this study
show e.g. that the satisfaction with the handling of customer club transactions
has a significant influence on relationship satisfaction and customer retention.
Because of this, organizations must ensure by appropriate specifications and
checks that the co-operating partners promote the desired satisfaction and
retention effect and do not go against it.
In the future, the results of this study must be re-tested and the approach
presented here has to be pursued further. Particularly, the role of the
moderating factors in the customer club retention chain seems to be of
particular interest. Furthermore, the economic consequences of the increased
relationship satisfaction and customer retention should be regarded as an
relevant field of research.
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