Title: Loyalty: theoretical development and its practice in hospitality and tourism

Authors: Ying Lu

Addresses: Department of Retailing and Tourism Management, School of Human Environmental Sciences, College of Agriculture, Food and Environment, University of Kentucky, 121 Erikson Hall, Lexington, Kentucky, 40506, USA

Abstract: This research takes a comprehensive approach to synthetise the theoretical and practical development of the concept of customer loyalty between 1920s and 2000s. The four eras of theoretical development of loyalty concept can be characterised as origination and brand loyalty (1920s-1940s), multidisciplinary exploration (1950s), systematic conceptualisation (1960s) and theoretical advancement (1970s-present). Key theories in each era are discussed. The concept of loyalty is practiced in hospitality and tourism in four major areas: typology, previous experience and repeat visitation, relationship with satisfaction and systematic exploration. Results of this review call for more research on theoretical development on tourist loyalty.

Keywords: loyalty; theoretical development; hospitality; tourism.

DOI: 10.1504/IJQRS.2017.088111

International Journal of Qualitative Research in Services, 2017 Vol.2 No.4, pp.308 - 324

Received: 07 Jun 2016
Accepted: 04 Aug 2016
Published online: 24 Nov 2017 *

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