The Role of Mobile Applications in Building Customer Loyalty: A Qualitative Study

In an increasingly competitive environment, brands need to retain existing customers and attractpotential customers. Brands that employ various promotional activities to develop brand loyalty usedifferent strategies. Especially with the developments in technology and the increase in social mediause,...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: İrem Elbir, Elif Eşiyok, Öykü Çalyan
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Marmara University 2021-06-01
Series:Türkiye İletişim Araştırmaları Dergisi
Subjects:
Online Access:https://dergipark.org.tr/tr/download/article-file/1502544
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
_version_ 1832585186087272448
author İrem Elbir
Elif Eşiyok
Öykü Çalyan
author_facet İrem Elbir
Elif Eşiyok
Öykü Çalyan
author_sort İrem Elbir
collection DOAJ
description In an increasingly competitive environment, brands need to retain existing customers and attractpotential customers. Brands that employ various promotional activities to develop brand loyalty usedifferent strategies. Especially with the developments in technology and the increase in social mediause, mobile applications have become tools for these promotional activities. From this point of view,this study aims to examine the importance of mobile applications in creating customer loyalty. For thispurpose, the Starbucks brand, one of the leading coffee chains in the world, was selected. A qualitativeresearch method, semi-structured interviews, was conducted with 20 participants. While selecting theparticipants, customers who fit the definition of “loyal customer” in the literature were chosen. Thequestion form consisted of two parts. In the first part, information about the participants’ demographiccharacteristics was collected, and in the second part, questions related to the purpose of this researchwere asked. The findings of the research were examined under the following themes namely; loyaltydrivers of the customers, usage of mobile applications and customer loyalty, and impact of the mobileapplication on customer loyalty. Loyalty drivers of the customers were examined under three mainthemes as service-related choices, location of the stores, quality and taste. Besides, under the “Servicerelatedchoices” theme, internal environment and store atmosphere, and self-service sub-themes werediscussed. As a result, it was revealed that service related choices, quality-taste, and location of thestores are the drivers that effect customer loyalty. The mobile applications were not used frequently bythe consumers yet, and it was not found as a strong indicator of customer loyalty.
format Article
id doaj-art-97b11e8f57834d4f807f72b8033f64e1
institution Kabale University
issn 2630-6220
language English
publishDate 2021-06-01
publisher Marmara University
record_format Article
series Türkiye İletişim Araştırmaları Dergisi
spelling doaj-art-97b11e8f57834d4f807f72b8033f64e12025-01-26T18:31:51ZengMarmara UniversityTürkiye İletişim Araştırmaları Dergisi2630-62202021-06-0137395210.17829/turcom.8585013The Role of Mobile Applications in Building Customer Loyalty: A Qualitative Studyİrem Elbir0https://orcid.org/0000-0003-3753-6805Elif Eşiyok1https://orcid.org/0000-0001-9486-7067Öykü Çalyan2https://orcid.org/0000-0003-3729-0390ATILIM ÜNİVERSİTESİATILIM ÜNİVERSİTESİATILIM ÜNİVERSİTESİIn an increasingly competitive environment, brands need to retain existing customers and attractpotential customers. Brands that employ various promotional activities to develop brand loyalty usedifferent strategies. Especially with the developments in technology and the increase in social mediause, mobile applications have become tools for these promotional activities. From this point of view,this study aims to examine the importance of mobile applications in creating customer loyalty. For thispurpose, the Starbucks brand, one of the leading coffee chains in the world, was selected. A qualitativeresearch method, semi-structured interviews, was conducted with 20 participants. While selecting theparticipants, customers who fit the definition of “loyal customer” in the literature were chosen. Thequestion form consisted of two parts. In the first part, information about the participants’ demographiccharacteristics was collected, and in the second part, questions related to the purpose of this researchwere asked. The findings of the research were examined under the following themes namely; loyaltydrivers of the customers, usage of mobile applications and customer loyalty, and impact of the mobileapplication on customer loyalty. Loyalty drivers of the customers were examined under three mainthemes as service-related choices, location of the stores, quality and taste. Besides, under the “Servicerelatedchoices” theme, internal environment and store atmosphere, and self-service sub-themes werediscussed. As a result, it was revealed that service related choices, quality-taste, and location of thestores are the drivers that effect customer loyalty. The mobile applications were not used frequently bythe consumers yet, and it was not found as a strong indicator of customer loyalty.https://dergipark.org.tr/tr/download/article-file/1502544customer loyaltymobile applicationsstarbuckscustomer satisfactionbrand loyaltymüşteri sadakatimobil uygulamastarbucksmüşteri tatminimarka sadakati
spellingShingle İrem Elbir
Elif Eşiyok
Öykü Çalyan
The Role of Mobile Applications in Building Customer Loyalty: A Qualitative Study
Türkiye İletişim Araştırmaları Dergisi
customer loyalty
mobile applications
starbucks
customer satisfaction
brand loyalty
müşteri sadakati
mobil uygulama
starbucks
müşteri tatmini
marka sadakati
title The Role of Mobile Applications in Building Customer Loyalty: A Qualitative Study
title_full The Role of Mobile Applications in Building Customer Loyalty: A Qualitative Study
title_fullStr The Role of Mobile Applications in Building Customer Loyalty: A Qualitative Study
title_full_unstemmed The Role of Mobile Applications in Building Customer Loyalty: A Qualitative Study
title_short The Role of Mobile Applications in Building Customer Loyalty: A Qualitative Study
title_sort role of mobile applications in building customer loyalty a qualitative study
topic customer loyalty
mobile applications
starbucks
customer satisfaction
brand loyalty
müşteri sadakati
mobil uygulama
starbucks
müşteri tatmini
marka sadakati
url https://dergipark.org.tr/tr/download/article-file/1502544
work_keys_str_mv AT iremelbir theroleofmobileapplicationsinbuildingcustomerloyaltyaqualitativestudy
AT elifesiyok theroleofmobileapplicationsinbuildingcustomerloyaltyaqualitativestudy
AT oykucalyan theroleofmobileapplicationsinbuildingcustomerloyaltyaqualitativestudy
AT iremelbir roleofmobileapplicationsinbuildingcustomerloyaltyaqualitativestudy
AT elifesiyok roleofmobileapplicationsinbuildingcustomerloyaltyaqualitativestudy
AT oykucalyan roleofmobileapplicationsinbuildingcustomerloyaltyaqualitativestudy