In my Consumer Behaviour course last week, we discussed the fact that symptoms of brand loyalty don’t always = actual brand loyalty.
Marketers love to talk about brand loyalty, but they risk making the wrong assumptions based on simply observing purchase patterns.
True brand loyalty means customers actively choose your brand because they believe in it, love it, or feel emotionally connected.
But in many cases, customers aren’t loyal, they’re just on autopilot. They keep buying the same brand out of habit, convenience, or lack of alternatives.
Think about it:
- You always grab the same brand of toothpaste, not because you love it, but because you’re on autopilot, and have better things to do than browse that isle.
- You stick with the same streaming service, not because it’s amazing, but because switching feels like a hassle.
- You stay with your current bank, not out of trust, but because the process of changing seems overwhelming.
This isn’t loyalty. It’s inertia.
The danger? Brands assume their customers are truly “loyal,” when in reality, they’re just unbothered. And the second a competitor offers something more convenient, cheaper, and easier to switch to, the customers you assumed were “loyal”, “betray” the brand.
So, the real challenge for marketers might be turning inertia into loyalty before someone else does.
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