Exploring How Blockchain Impacts Loyalty Program Participation Behaviors: An Exploratory Case Study

How to keep customers motivated in participative behaviors remains one major challenge in extant loyalty program (LP) studies. While some companies have initiated efforts to utilize blockchain-based distributed ledgers and smart contract capabilities to enhance customer experience and improve LP efficiencies, academic assessment of blockchain application in the LP context remains scarce. This research attempts to establish a theoretical overview of how the key natures of blockchain influence customers’ varying motivations (economy, autonomy, competence and relatedness) and perceived value, which consequently induce participative behaviors in a loyalty points context. Then, using an exploratory case study of Bubichain in China, we verify that the blockchain-enabled loyalty points scheme not only improves customers’ economic perceived value by meeting their economic motives, as the traditional one does, but also enhances their social interaction and psychological self-fulfillment value perception by meeting their intrinsic motivations, thus increasing customers’ experience and participation behaviors

A Systematic Review of Blockchain-based Loyalty Programs

Customer loyalty programs, the incentive structures designed to reward and retain customers for purchases and other activities, have struggled to maximize their intended goals. Academics and industry practitioners have advocated for the use of blockchain technology as a vehicle to revolutionize loyalty programs. Despite this hype, we have yet to see an examination of existing blockchain-based loyalty solutions. This paper identifies, reviews, and classifies tokenized loyalty solutions. Using a web-scraping method, we systematically retrieved 9,642 tokens listed on the coinmarketcap.com website. Multiple applications of inclusion/exclusion criteria resulted in 21 active loyalty programs based on blockchain, which we evaluated in depth. Our findings confirm that the domain is nascent yet more actualized than previous research has suggested. This analysis fills a much-needed role in the blockchain-loyalty literature by providing an industry lens into the realities of blockchain as a loyalty solution

Exploring the implications of blockchain technology for brand-consumer relationships: a future research agenda

Purpose This conceptual paper delves into the implications of blockchain technology adoption for brands and consumers. Drawing on existing branding literature and real-life applications of blockchain, the challenges, risks and opportunities from blockchain adoption for four important areas of the branding literature are canvassed (i.e., brand positioning and corporate brand image, consumer-brand relationships, online brand communication and consumers’ trust in the brand). Also, a future-oriented discussion is provided that highlights some important avenues for researchers in the field. Design/methodology/approach This conceptual discussion sheds light on the potential implications of blockchain technology for brand-consumer relationships. To do so, an analytical review of the blockchain literature is conducted, the nature of blockchain technology is presented and its unique features and functions for brand-consumer interactions are discussed. Findings This work ignites an exploratory discussion around how blockchain applications and platforms can affect consumer-brand relationships, drawing on a number of real-life examples of blockchain adoption. This discussion sheds light on how blockchain features can impact on various areas of interest for strategic brand management, such as the adoption of digital currencies, brand storytelling, the use of blockchain-enabled loyalty programmes, the role of intermediaries in online advertising, counterfeit consumption, brand transparency and trust for brands in online marketplaces, among others. Originality/value This is one of the first conceptual efforts in the branding literature that draws on the scarce existing knowledge around blockchain adoption and discusses the potential implications of blockchain technology for brands and consumers while also providing directions for future research

Understanding blockchain technology in retail branding for enhancing customer experience and strengthening the retail brand-customer relationship

Abstract. Though the concept of branding used to associate with the manufacturers, over the past decades, to survive the fierce competition in today’s business world, branding becomes indispensable for all business organizations including retail. Branding is important for the retail organization for delivering their brand promises and for increasing their brand equity. The growth of the internet and technological advancement has shaped the way the brand used to communicate. These technological advancements have opened new avenues and opportunities as well as created new challenges for the retail brands. Besides, in recent years, customers became more concern about society and the environment due to the adverse effects of human and business activities. Most of the customers now want and expect products that have been sustainably procured, produced, transported, and fairly traded. This sustainability concern of the customers is creating pressure on the retailers to act in a responsible way towards society and the environment. But the brands are suffering in spite of trying hard to deliver products in a sustainable way to meet the customers’ expectation, as customers are reluctant to rely on brand’s promises and hesitate to buy due to the lack of availability of authentic and credible information about the products and services retailers offer and is resulting in poor brand loyalty and declined brand equity. The aim of this thesis is to understand customer’s perspective on identifying the implications of blockchain technology for solving these problems of trust on retail brands and explore the way for increasing brand loyalty and enhancing brand equity through elevating the customer experience with the retail brands and strengthening the relationships with the customers. The conceptual framework is developed based on the theoretical analysis of existing literature on brand and blockchain technology. This thesis is conducted based on a qualitative research design to meet the purpose of the thesis. The thesis followed an abductive reasoning approach throughout the research process. A semi-structured interview was conducted for investigating and validating the developed conceptual framework and concluded with an empirically validated framework. The target population comprises both male and female from different nationalities and fall in the age group 26 to 40. The empirically validated framework of the research findings reveals that the unique characteristics of blockchain technology have enough potentiality for adding value to the retailers’ branding effort through effective advertising and loyalty programs and efficient inventory management. The research finding further conclude the utilization of blockchain technology in uplifting customer experience and strengthening retail brand-customer relationship for achieving increased brand loyalty and enhanced brand equity

Managing the relationship between intermediaries and meta sites

Travel meta search engines have great potential to alter the travel landscape. Although their current booking impact is relatively low, these new entrants are well-funded, growing quickly, and gaining consumer visibility (Christodoulidou, Connolly, and Brewer, 2006). This research (a) explored whether travel meta sites are an opportunity or a threat to travel intermediaries, (b) examined the transactional relationship between travel meta sites, travel intermediaries, and their suppliers, and (c) compared the consumer\u27s perceptions regarding travel meta sites and travel intermediaries; To examine the role of meta sites in the travel industry and the transactional relationships an information rich-case study approach was used. The results were triangulated using personal interviews with subjects-matter experts from the travel industry, document analysis, and a review of the literature. The outcomes of these studies revealed that the travel intermediaries should consider establishing partnerships with meta search engines now, while they are in a position of power to leverage an opportunity. In addition, these research findings can act as a guide as to how travel meta sites and travel intermediaries should structure and maintain relationships with their suppliers. In order to examine consumer\u27s perceptions, an online survey was used to identify whether travel meta sites provide additional benefits for the customer over travel intermediaries. Factor analysis was used to identify the groupings and the measures of the customer\u27s perceptions. MANOVA was then performed to identify any significant differences in consumer behavior. Finally ANOVA was conducted to see whether travel meta sites and travel intermediaries, affect the factors of ease of use, intrinsic value, extrinsic value, loyalty, and decision autonomy

Household demand persistence for child micronutrient supplementation.

Addressing early-life micronutrient deficiencies can improve short- and long-term outcomes. In most contexts, private supply chains will be key to effective and efficient preventative supplementation. With established vendors, we conducted a 60-week market trial for a food-based micronutrient supplement in rural Burkina Faso with randomized price and non-price treatments. Repeat purchases - critical for effective supplementation - are extremely price sensitive. Loyalty cards boost demand more than price discounts, particularly in non-poor households where the father is the cardholder. A small minority of households achieved sufficient supplementation for their children through purely retail distribution, suggesting the need for more creative public-private delivery platforms informed by insights into household demand persistence and heterogeneity

Leveraging the circular economy with a closed-loop supply chain and a reverse omnichannel using blockchain technology and incentives

Purpose This paper aims to analyze the benefits of the blockchain to the circular economy (CE), which is composed of both closed-loop supply chain (CLSC) systems and reverse omnichannel solutions. By ensuring transparency, traceability, visibility and security, the blockchain allows firms to acquire operational capabilities through a CLSC and service capabilities through a reverse omnichannel, which can boost business performance considerably. The related network of relationships can be reinforced by establishing incentives, which entail both smart contracts in the blockchain and active return approaches in CE. Design/methodology/approach After identifying the boundaries of the theoretical framework, several research hypotheses are developed according to the literature review and emerging gaps. These gaps link to the impact of the blockchain on CE systems (CLSC and reverse omnichannel), as well as the influence on business performance. The hypotheses are then tested using structural equation modeling and adopting a partial least squares-path modeling technique on a dataset composed of 157 firms. Finally, multigroup analysis is used to test the impact of incentives on the research hypotheses. Findings The blockchain facilitates a more efficient CE system, although reverse omnichannel solutions seldom bring any benefits to performance. The shift from a passive to an active return approach must be carefully evaluated. The CLSC network can benefit from an active return approach by developing appealing incentives for collectors and enhancing the positive effects of the blockchain. In contrast, consumer incentives can have detrimental effects on the blockchain. Various combinations of incentives can only bring a few business performance increases, while collector incentives are vital to reinforce the CE system's operational and service capabilities. Originality/value This paper takes a new approach toward the study of CE, which considers a dual circular system composed of a CLSC and a reverse omnichannel. The research explores whether the adoption of blockchain technology enables better return processes by improving the operations in CLSC and services in reverse omnichannel. Finally, this is the first empirical work to evaluate the benefits emerging from incentives, which can activate smart contracts in the blockchain and enable active return approaches in CE