A study was conducted on rewards services some companies offer their customers, along with goods and services sold in order to improve customer loyalty and retention and achieve growth. The DiSC model of human behavior was employed as the main theoret...
A study was conducted on rewards services some companies offer their customers, along with goods and services sold in order to improve customer loyalty and retention and achieve growth. The DiSC model of human behavior was employed as the main theoretical model for categorizing customers into types. The research looked into the impact each type of rewards service had on different customer types categorized by DiSC is, and the extent to which offering each customer a type the rewards services he or she preferred has on customer loyalty. In addition, the research proposed effective visualization methods for print media used to promote rewards services.
Sixty Coway Customers verging on the VIP class were asked to fill out a questionnaire to figure out their DiSC types and preference on reward programs. The questionnaire was designed based on the actual VIP rewards program in use at Coway, One of the top home appliance companies in Korea, to determine the impact rewards services have on customer loyalty and what types of rewards services each customer type preferred.
SPSS was used to analyze the data and showed that providing customers with rewards services they preferred improves their preference towards the company's rewards services, willingness to recommend the company's products and services, willingness to make additional purchase, and overall loyalty to the company. These findings suggest segmenting a company's rewards program and allowing customers to choose which service(s) to receive increases customer loyalty, helps convert regular customers into VIP customers, and prevents existing VIP customers from deviating away from the company.
There was, however, a limitation in identifying the types of services preferred by each DISC behavioral group (Dominance, Influence, Steadiness, and Conscientiousness). All four groups displayed similar degrees of preferences for the services, suggesting the possibility of the bias caused by small sample size and of the value offered by individual rewards services being either generally liked or disliked regardless of their DiSC types. Should more in-depth research that addresses these two issues be conducted, the research discussed herein would serve as a valuable reference for companies developing reward programs capable of satisfying customers and designing an effective strategy for implementing these programs.