Till death do us part. Do customers cheat on brands?

Martin Klepek () and Lukas Toth
Additional contact information
Martin Klepek: Silesian University in Opava
Lukas Toth: University of Amsterdam

E&M Economics and Management, 2024, vol. 27, issue 3, 215-227

Abstract: Some companies, based on the beliefs of their managers, aim to obtain solely loyal customers in the hope that these customers will always buy only one brand and never cheat by buying a competitor’s brand. However, a growing body of empirical research suggests that this may be an overly positive expectation and that this marketing strategy can run counter to the nature of the consumer. To scrutinize the sole loyal buyer idea, this study empirically examines the phenomenon of duplication of purchase, which suggests that customers not only buy from repertoire but also that brands share customers in proportion to their market share. Data were drawn from two consumer packaged goods categories: beer (10 brands), soft drinks (6 brands), and eight NUTS2 regions. Using a robust sample of 3,488 customers from a consumer panel and many sets of data approach, the research replicated significant patterns of duplication of purchase in both categories studied and across all regions. The findings support the notion that while consumers are likely to repurchase a brand previously purchased, they also frequently diversify their choices between competing brands. Therefore, the study confirms the generalisability of duplication of purchase behaviour in different categories and geographies, providing critical information for marketing strategy and brand management. It is a strategy that goes against the principles of how buying behaviour works to try to persuade customers to buy from one single brand for the rest of their lives. A great deal of corporate resources will be wasted in the pursuit of sole loyalty.

Keywords: Brand; customer loyalty; duplication of purchase; natural monopoly; marketing strategy (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: L22 L66 M31 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2024
References: Add references at CitEc
Citations:

Downloads: (external link)
https://doi.org/10.15240/tul/001/2024-5-008

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:bbl:journl:v:27:y:2024:i:3:p:215-227

DOI: 10.15240/tul/001/2024-5-008

Access Statistics for this article

More articles in E&M Economics and Management from Technical University of Liberec, Faculty of Economics Contact information at EDIRC.
Bibliographic data for series maintained by Vendula Pospisilova ().