Making the point. The challenge of loyalty program effectiveness measurement

<em>Making the point. The challenge of loyalty program effectiveness measurement</em> - This piece of work is part of a wider reflection on the development of a loyalty marketing orientation among Italian companies: in such context, we decided to investigate marketing managers’ perceptions of loyalty marketing challenges, satisfaction with their own loyalty programs, drivers of adoption and measures of effectiveness. Our survey discovered a gap between assigned goals and expectations on the one side, and measurements on the other; measurement practices regarding performance and effects of loyalty program main tools, such as the rewards’ catalogue, in particular, appear to be falling short of managers’ needs. We conducted analyses with loyalty program data provided by five retail companies and one promotional agency: the outcome, if confirmed by replication and extension to other industries, will shed light on performance measurement questions that need to be urgently addressed by loyalty marketing managers, such as: how appealing are the loyalty program main features to customers? Does the desire to obtain a high value reward lead consumers to increase their spending and frequency? Keywords: loyalty marketing, loyalty programs, premiums, effectiveness measurement, Italy, retail.