Buy research paper online: TESCO CLUB CARD: IDENTIFY RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN CUSTOMER LOYALTY AND CUSTOMER SATISFACTION

Data analysis
The results of the first questionnaire show that out of the 100 respondents, there were 29 men and 71 women who took part in the survey. In addition the obtained information was a little bit limited by the exact size and time scale, and it proves that females are more likely to be cardholders. The survey has also proved that 29 males owned a card, and it shows that men are also active customers and the Tesco Club card has effectively affected the male segment.
The data from questionnaires explains that the age groups which are most likely to be loyal to Tesco’s due to the notion they trust Tesco brand and its products are the 30-39 age groups. But at the same time, it is also seen that in the 22-29 and 30-39 age groups there is a higher level of distrust to the production of Tesco. The results of the questionnaire explain that out of the 100 respondents, 22% did not trust Tesco when 68% did trust Tesco (the rest 10% didn’t agree or disagree). All these show that Tesco has got success in establishing its high position in the market place.
So, the results prove that the Tesco Club card can be used with every age group and that Tesco is efficiently managing its relationship with clients in every of their different “life stage” (Simm, 2007) in order to obtain a competitive advantage and add the value to their Club card system.
The specific focus of the survey has resulted in limited results of Club card obtainers, creating unambiguous information that is important to the survey. It means that 81% of the surveyed respondents used their Tesco Club card every time or from time to time while completing a transaction with Tesco. Such high value should be accounted for by suggesting that clients value the Club card and have involved it into their every day shopping behaviour and life.
Nevertheless, despite positive results of the survey, it also shows that there are a remaining 19% of clients who seldom or almost never use their Club card. It is surprising that this number is not overlooked or is ignored as this marker represents a huge percentage and shows that some clients don’t buy into the scheme and are just not motivated by the rewards on offer provided by the company. It even demonstrates that the Tesco Clubcard system is not what is needed in order to keep specific consumers loyal to Tesco.buy research paper online
It is believed that age is a very important factor in determining satisfaction levels of customers. Especially, this view was supported in empirical way by Palvia and Palvia (1999), who demonstrated that age is a hidden predictor of satisfaction in case with information technology. Additionally, the experts of this industry are sure that an age effect exists. So, for example, the study shows that younger age clients are significantly less satisfied than older customers. This information makes us confident in the age effect.
Then all respondents were asked that “if Tesco did not have the Clubcard customer reward program in place, would they still continue to shop there?”. The interesting survey results illustrate that a resounding 95% of respondents of all age groups would still continue to go shopping there. Such information raises the issue that probably consumers think the Clubcard to be of little or no importance or application when they shop at Tesco and in reality accept it as an additional bonus provided by the company. The main that such results demonstrate is that Tesco is doing and offering so much more than just a loyalty card that facilitates repeat purchases to their consumers. The fact additionally raises the point that loyalty is more behavioural than attitudinal.
Respondents were asked if they thought more could be done by tesco to improve their loyalty.
There is a need to mention that 77% of the subjects surveyed totally agree or partly agree that more could be done by Tesco in order to improve their loyalty, other way round 75% think Tesco to be a highly inventive company. The fact that is oblivious from the study data is that despite clients’ reactions that additional measures could be added to augment their loyalty they however perceive Tesco as being a resourceful company and in a right way.
Now it is also known that 77% of clients felt that more could be done by the company to increase their loyalty. The other way round regardless of this, 68% of the respondents strongly agree on trusting in Tesco products and their brand image. The thing that can be also noticed is that regardless of consumers’ perception to more being done to keep them loyal, clients would still continue to go shopping for products and services because of their trust and belief in the brand and services that are offered by Tesco.
Respondents were questioned whether they expect rewards for being a loyal customers.
60% of the consumers strongly agree or just agree that they want and expect rewards as a part of their usual shopping experience. But, regardless of the rewards 95% respondents stated they would continue to go shopping at Tesco even if the Clubcard system was not operational. The analysis of the above questions highlights the loyalty that Tesco has garnered from the customers as the majority of the respondents don’t mind shopping even in the absence of a customer reward program. However the analysis does not give clear indications of the factors which contribute towards building this loyalty.
Next the respondents were questioned: “Have you redeemed any rewards from the Clubcard system within the last 12 months?” This was done is order to find out if the customers were using the benefits offered by the card.
The responses generated shows that 61% of the customers did redeem some kind of reward with the points earned on the clubcard with Tesco in the last one year. The results of the questions reveal that the rewards point system does attract the customers as they redeem the experimental and innovative themed incentives offered by Tesco on regular basis.
Respondents of the survey were also asked to rate the importance and necessity of the reward program in practice. The results show that almost 40% of the subjects rate a client reward programs importance between 1-4 on a scale of 10 (1 = very important, 10 = not important at all). The response generated show that 60% of the customers rank loyalty card schemes rank between 5-10 which indicates they do not think loyalty card system to be primary important.
The analysis indicates that the customers are not primarily attracted in customer reward programs or the other benefits the club card offers despite a rather high quantity of respondents’ taking advantage of them, but instead see other variables as being extremely important to them. As it is known, the results of the research show that consumers attitudes has undergone major change and they rate other factors as more significant than gathering some points while their shopping.
The next step is to determine the correlation between loyalty and satisfaction, according to the customer’s answers.
Table 1: “are you loyal to Tesco? Are you a satisfied customer of Tesco?

Loyal to Tesco Are you a satisfied customer of Tesco?
Yes No Don’t know Total
Yes 20 12 4 36
No 31 13 15 58
Do not know 4 1 1 6
Total 55 35 20 100

The analysis of the responses to this question shows that 55% of the customers questioned described themselves as satisfied Tesco customers.
However, when the responses are viewed in cross tabulation it is clear that 31% of the customers are satisfied but would not describe themselves as being loyal customers. What we can decipher from the responses is that a satisfied customer does not automatically become a loyal customer.
Accordingly, 13% of respondents answered that they were not satisfied as Tesco clients but were loyal, showing that they are locked into being loyal to the company.
According to Duffy (2001, pg 36) the clubcard can be perceived as a starting point to loyalty. However the results present a contrasting image and indicate that other additional variables are also required to convert a satisfied customer to a loyal customer.
Some consumers just require being satisfied with a business in order to become a loyal customer. However, the 12% deviation from the results in Table 1 indicates that most customers need more than satisfaction to be loyal.
As the responses gathered indicated that other factors play an important role in deriving loyalty respondents were asked to rate different factors which possibly influence their loyalty. The responses are analysed in the following table.

Value for money Very important 1 2 3 4 Not important 5
Location of store 35% 22% 20% 11% 2%
Quality of service and staff 25% 29% 19% 15% 22%
Loyalty card scheme 18% 27% 33% 22% 10%
Money off coupons/vouchers and special promotions 10% 13% 13% 34% 30%

The findings of the survey indicate that value for money was rated as the most influential determinant factor by customers in achieving loyalty. The table shows that loyalty card schemes were rated in the bottom half of the important factors by customers when deciding a supermarket for purchase.
Although the findings indicate that special promotions and money off coupons/vouchers as being the least important, if we examine the other end of the grading scale we can see that a staggering 30% of the customers ranked flyers, magazines and in store promotional as 5 (not important).
The findings of the above mentioned questions indicate it would be better for Tesco to invest capital into other factors of customer satisfaction rather than a clubcard scheme. The data points that customer’s try to un complicate and simplify their shopping and everyday lives and that the Clubcard is in theory complicating things for them.
The findings of the questionnaire show that the alliance between loyalty and satisfaction is not attainable from a particular single mean alone and in actual fact depends on clients’ own variables.
As Humby and Hunt (2004, pg 9) said that retail loyalty is “looking to achieve a little extra goodwill, a slight margin of preference, an incremental shift in buying behaviour”. By means of cross tabulating the information with how important respondents rank the location of a store, the information can be divided into two kinds: true loyal and functionally loyal data.

To highlight a shift in buying behaviour it is practical to recognize and acknowledge if the collection of points results in an increase of the respondents’ expenditure.
Respondents were asked if they were compelled to spend more in order to gain more points
Nearly 76 % of the respondents questioned answered that the collection of points does not influence their buying pattern. It is apparent that the analysis proved the fact that the compilation of points did not persuade consumers to augment their spending or to purchase particular promotional merchandise. On a quick analysis the results of the survey appears to show that the Tesco clubcard has not been successful in its movement to create loyalty and generate an increase in sales
To ascertain true loyalty respondents were also asked if they used any loyalty card for other stores regularly
The findings to the questions indicated only 17 out of the 100 respondents use only Tesco clubcard the remaining respondents have loyalty cards from other supermarkets. Most of the respondents stated they do shop around in different stores to take advantage of the best deals available. The findings indicate the competitors have introduced similar cards and have had no difficulty in penetrating through the market as the loyalty factor is missing. However with the availability of so many options is helping customers in saving lots of money. It can be stated the loyalty card promotion is not very effective and is an expensive sales promotion technique.
The last question in the questionnaire was asked to respondents “whether they would recommend Tesco and Tesco Clubcard to friend?” This question is to a certain extent significant because the probability to recommend is always grounded on a positive attitude towards the organisation. Such an attitude could be calculated, for example, with a question on how much the consumer likes or dislikes the organization and its products, services.
The customer’s previous interaction with the company, disclosure of information or communication in mass media such as reviews and announcement, and interaction with other consumers about the organisation will chiefly contribute to the creation of that position. Previous interaction or experience is reflected in the satisfaction a consumers experiences in his or her communications with the organization.
The word-of-mouth communication is reflected by how many recommendations are given about the organization and that is why is influenced by how many people show their intention or likelihood of recommending the organization and its products, services. It also shows how much the subjects like their company, and how many customers are giving positive recommendations about their organization when communicating with potential consumers.
The interactions between customer and company influence satisfaction, liking and the inclination to give potential recommendations. The three mentioned concepts are linked: if a consumer is content he or she is more probable to furnish recommendations and perhaps increases their liking of the organization. High liking contributes to added recommendations as well. High satisfaction and high liking results into high retention rates of customer for the company, but high possibility of recommendations would also evaluate the quantity of word-of-mouth promotion that might take place.
Measurement is better in general commending than just like/dislike questions, as it requires respondents to make commitments to their further behaviour. While respondents give recommendations, they are putting their own reputations as a trustworthy source on the line. Later such kind of commitment may be understood as a kind of recommendation (Reichheld, 2003).
In order to get true, valid data, the respondents should have higher incentives to give better answers than for inconsequential direct questions about their personal attitude and satisfaction. It is known that respondents feel more natural while expressing their attitudes to business and the previous experience in the business using the terms of recommendations, than the abstract concept of satisfaction. It is so, because respondents are often engaged in giving recommendations to other people in their everyday lives. There is also a need of usage of the word-to-mouth component for attracting new clients, as any organization that has a lot of satisfied clients` recommendations has more chances to attract new customers in the future.
The studies given above prove that loyal customers are ready to shop more often at the shops where they are loyal while decreasing the frequently of shopping at other shops. The given research provides strong evidence in support of this idea. The Loyalty Card can cause the client loyalty if it gives privilege rights and the cheaper prices to its members. It means that the holders of loyalty cards prefer to shop only at the store they participated; but if consumers have more loyalty cards, they will probably have less loyalty toward exact shop.