When it comes to travel, brand loyalty is quickly disappearing according to Forrester Research.
In a study by Henry Harteveldt, vice president and principal analyst, and Elizabeth Stark, the number of leisure travelers who book online and stick with one brand from 31 percent in 2006 to 25 percent this year. The authors offer five reasons for the decline:
Generic products or experiences. Half the travelers say there is so little difference among products that the travel company they use matters less than getting the lowest possible price.
An abundance of travel product and booking options. Eight airlines can get you between Dallas and Fort Lauderdale, Fla.. Expedia offers nearly 80,000 lodging options.
Few incentives to become loyal. If you’re not a frequent traveler, you don’t view frequent traveler programs as relevant. Few travel companies seek to create relationships with infrequent travelers.
A wealth of user-generated content. Travelers are no longer relying on the guidance of travel suppliers.
The study offers several ways to revive brand loyalty. Among them:
1. Make better use of profiles to learn about customers’ travel interests, product preferences and willingness to pay affordably higher prices for better products.
2. Let customers create their own home page. Control matters to travelers. Technologies such as Ajax will allow travelers to personalize your site’s home page.
3. Let travelers create their own awards. InterContinental Hotels Group’s Priority Club allows members to redeem Priority Club points for retail, dining, and gasoline gift cards; online auctions; and unique experiences, as well as free hotel accommodations. Members of the Starwood Preferred Guest program can redeem points for free airline tickets almost anywhere in the world–and in premium cabins, not just economy. Since these tickets are actually purchased, the SPG member can earn airline loyalty program credits as well.
The suppliers also need to look at the demographics too woo these travelers.
More than half of U.S. online brand-loyal leisure travelers are college-educated, compared with 43% of all leisure travelers. Seven in 10 brand-loyal leisure travelers are married, and one in three has children at home, so you get them and their offspring.
They are also successful — 47% have an annual household income of more than $100,000 — and 65% are bookers–15% more than all U.S. online leisure travelers. They belong to multiple loyalty programs, so don’t count on fidelity. They like booking online.
They also participate in social media as much as any travelers, which can be a boon or a bane for travel marketers.
