Bruneau, VirginieSwaen, ValérieHörold, MaïtéMaïtéHörold2025-05-142025-05-142025-05-142017https://hdl.handle.net/2078.2/6331Relationship marketing, both in research and in practice, has increasingly gained in importance over the last decades and loyalty programs have become a widely used customer relationship management tool. Despite considerable interest and investment in loyalty programs, the number of active members remains relatively low and the impact of loyalty programs on company profitability is more than often called into question. This research studies customers’ attitude and behaviour towards loyalty programs in order to determine the motivations and brakes to customer participation in loyalty programs. Through a qualitative study, we determine eight motivations; discounts, free products, relevant offers and rewards, preferential treatment, immediate benefits, simplicity of program, high purchase frequency, and love of brand, as well as six brakes; release of personal data, participation cost, high participation efforts, limited program duration, irrelevant offers and rewards, and excessive amount of emails. From an academic point of view, our research provides new elements and completes the existing literature on the topic of customer participation in loyalty programs. Based upon our literature review and the findings of our study, we propose a conceptual model that could be used as a starting point for future research. From a more practical point of view, market practitioners gain insights into how consumers perceive loyalty programs and what drives them to participate in such programs. Furthermore, we put forward some managerial recommendations to encourage companies to design more effective loyalty programs.loyalty programstext::thesis::master thesisthesis:11266