The evaluation of customers’ personal characteristics impact on loyalty formation

Straipsnyje analizuojama asmeninių charakteristikų įtaka vartotojų lojalumo formavimuisi. Apžvelgiamas vartotojų lojalumo teorinis aspektas, analizuojami vartotojų lojalumą įtakojantys veiksniai, didžiausią dėmesį skiriant su vartotojo asmeninėmis savybėmis siejamiems lojalumą įtakojantiems veiksniams. Pristatomi empirinio tyrimo rezultatai, nustatant asmeninių charakteristikų įtaką vartotojų lojalumo formavimuisiBuilding customer loyalty often becomes the activity that further guarantees successful competition for the organization in ever-changing business world. According to A. Bakanauskas and L. Pilelienė (2009), the basis of company‘s competitive advantages is customer loyalty: loyal customers generates stable income with the potency to grow, keeping loyal customers becomes cheaper than attracting new ones, loyal customers generates positive word-ofmouth, they are less price sensitive and are ready to pay more for the same product than disloyal customers. Analyzing the process of customer loyalty formation, researchers mention different tools for loyalty building; distinguish various factors, affecting customer loyalty formation. Summarizing various researchers’ (Fassnacht and Daus, 2004) positions, factors, affecting customer loyalty formation, could be analyzed in three aspects: associating them with company and its products / services, associating them with relationship development and associating them with customers’ personal characteristics. Company’s efforts to gain customer loyalty are treated as unconsciously understandable, but studies show, that customers’ personal characteristics have a big impact on loyalty formation too. The impact of customers’ personal characteristics on loyalty formation still meets withlittle attention from academic site – despite the thought, that some customers are more inclined to become loyal than others, it is still unclear, which personal characteristics have positive impact for customer loyalty formation. This article is based on the scientific research, assessing customers’ personal characteristics impact on loyalty formation. Quantitative research and data processing methods were used for identification customers‘personal characteristics, which have positive effect and which are insignificant in customers’ loyalty formation. [...]Ekonomikos ir vadybos fakultetasMarketingo katedraVytauto Didžiojo universiteta