Brand Affinity

“Some Definitions

Satisfaction is usually measured as the self-report of a transient attitude based on a recent experience. Even if one is asked about one’s overall satisfaction, this response is almost perfectly correlated with the satisfaction rating of the most recent experience. ASat tells you a little bit about what’s in the consumer’s head but not much about what they’ll do in the future.

Another key metric used is loyalty. Loyalty is often defined as repeat purchases. This is a step in the right direction. Now we are examining behaviors which are more likely to predict future behaviors than attitudes. However, for big-ticket items or items purchased occasionally, measures of repeat purchases are inadequate as there are insufficient data points to predict future behavior. In addition, one also needs an indicator that would provide some warning in regard to attitudinal and perceptual shifts that might impact future behavior. Loyalty measures provide little direction for improvement until it’s too late.

So, we need a metric that tells us what a person is likely to do (how he’ll behave) in a situation, and what’s in his head, and that also provides a means of differentiating among consumers as to likelihood to repurchase, stay with a company, purchase more from that company, and provide referrals to that company, i.e., something that reflects likelihood of future behaviors. This indicator of behavioral satisfaction (demonstrated repeat purchases and a preference for this supplier) is what we will call Brand Affinity.”

-Charles Pearlman
Information Management Special Reports, July 31, 2007

Finally, somebody I agree with on this “satisfaction/loyalty” thing.

Nice to meet you, Charles.

I think we’re going to get along just fine.