Members of VIP loyalty programs prefer awards they can share, according to a study titled, “The Entourage Effect,” which was published in the Journal of Consumer Research.
Brent McFerran, a co-author of the study as well as an assistant professor of marketing at the University of Michigan and Simon Fraser University, told Loyalty360 that consumers appreciate being able to share their perks with others and will sacrifice exclusivity to do so.
“Companies spend billions of dollars each year on customer loyalty or VIP....