Prime loyalty-card program: the impacts on behavioral and affective loyalty in property industry a case study of Sime Darby property / Wan Nabilah Wan Mat

The purpose of the paper is to analyze the impacts of loyalty-card program towards customers' behavioral and affective loyalty in property industry. The case study is derived from Sime Darby Property. The exclusive PRIME membership card is a customer loyalty-card rewards program by Sime Darby Property Berhad as an initiative of year 2013. PRIME loyalty-card is the privileged recognition as valued Sime Darby Property customers where they can enjoy discounts on selected property purchases, Inroducer's Reward Scheme, various promotions at selected merchants and outlets, and special invitation at any events of project launches and previews held by this reputable developer. Research data were taken from the interviews carried out on 5 interviewees, observation and also supported with document/content analysis. The interviewees are pleasantly volunteered from internal and external customer of Sime Darby Property. Three (3) of them are from the Marketing Department staffs and the rest are loyal customers that posses a PRIME loyalty-card. The results shows form 2 dimensions. Firstly, from the behavioral loyalty, the usage levels of customer slightly change after they make enrollment in this program. The usage level changes can be traced from their frequency of purchase and transaction size. The customers who entitled as a membership are motivated to make a subsequent property purchase and increase their spending size. However, the changes are in the minimal level since they take a couple of years for money accumulation since property is a high-risk product. Secondly, the impact of PRIME loyalty cards towards affective loyalty can be seen from two components which are commitment and satisfaction. These two components are important for the long-term relationship between participants which related to emotional attachment. The commitment aroused from the participation of members in any special events and also the customers act as an advocacy by recommend products to other people. The satisfaction is another component of the affective loyalty where the level of satisfaction affected the customer retention especially on the quality of product and service delivery.