Airline and hotel loyalty programme diversity and choice: effects of personality, cultural, and socio-demographic factors

ABSTRACT This study aims to conceptually diversify loyalty programme designs for a richer consumer experience in airlines and hotels by framing loyalty programme rewards into four categories: social-comparison, self-expression, community, and companionship in terms of psychological values by amalgamating theories of agency, communion, and self-construal. The results of a two-stage quantitative study reveal that: (1) the ubiquitous social-comparison loyalty programme (i.e. loyalty programme with multi-tier structures) is not the most desired consumer choice; (2) factors driving loyalty programme choice are different between airline and hotel sectors; (3) consumer personality and individual values are important determinants of their loyalty programme choice.