Vartotojų lojalumo stadijų nustatymo modelis
MODEL OF THE DETERMINATION OF CUSTOMER LOYALTY STAGE

Summary/Abstract: Retaining of actual customers is often cheaper than attracting the new ones. The benefits of customer loyalty are being described as cumulative and long-term, because it is easier to serve the existing customers. The growing loyalty among customers helps the organization to reduce marketing expenses, transactional expenses, and even costs of customer turnover; the usage of product supplements increases, a positive "word-of-mouth" communication is occurring more often. The amount of sales to loyal customers is often larger. Organizations with large potential of loyal customers can charge higher prices for their products and services. Recently, researchers often highlight possibilities of customer segmentation according to the nature of their interrelations. An example of such segmentation could be the segmentation based on customer loyalty stage. The stage of customer loyalty influences his/her response to marketing efforts used. It is important for Lithuanian managers to understand that the usage of marketing efforts in accordance to customer loyalty stage helps to increase customer satisfaction and loyalty. Loyalty stages provided by various scientists differ in their nature and sequence. Methods of the determination of these stages are not introduced and researches of customer loyalty stages are mostly based on theoretical assumptions. The lack of solid methodology for the determination of customer loyalty stage incites the necessity of a universal model for the determination of customer loyalty stage. According to the analysis of scientific literature, four loyalty stages have been determined in the article. Based on the customer's attitudinal and behavioral characteristics, all customers can be divided into the following categories: (1) Neutral, (2) Potentially loyal, (3) Unconsciously loyal and (4) Genuinely loyal. The recognition of given stages and the fulfillment of specific needs provides more advantages for organizations in the customer loyalty formation. To be effective, marketing efforts used have to correspond to specific needs of a customer loyalty stage. Knowing specific customer characteristics and needs in every loyalty stage, the organization can plan and implement marketing actions best corresponding to specific individual customer's needs. The suggested model of the determination of customer loyalty stage helps organizations and researchers to segment customers according to the state of their loyalty. The model helps to determine the strength of loyalty and customer's brand-related future plans.

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