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Moral Hazard and Customer Loyalty Programs

Author

Listed:
  • Leonardo J. Basso
  • Matthew T. Clements
  • Thomas W. Ross

Abstract

Frequent-flier plans (FFPs) may be the most famous of customer loyalty programs, and there are similar schemes in other industries. We present a theory that models FFPs as efforts to exploit the agency relationship between employers (who pay for tickets) and employees (who book travel). FFPs "bribe" employees to book flights at higher prices. While a single airline offering an FFP has an advantage, competing FFPs can result in lower profits for airlines even while ticket prices rise. Thus, in contrast to switching-cost treatments of FFPs, we may observe prices and profits moving in opposite directions. (JEL D82, L93, M31)

Suggested Citation

  • Leonardo J. Basso & Matthew T. Clements & Thomas W. Ross, 2009. "Moral Hazard and Customer Loyalty Programs," American Economic Journal: Microeconomics, American Economic Association, vol. 1(1), pages 101-123, February.
    • Handle: RePEc:aea:aejmic:v:1:y:2009:i:1:p:101-23
    Note: DOI: 10.1257/mic.1.1.101
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. Blundell,Richard & Newey,Whitney K. & Persson,Torsten (ed.), 2006. "Advances in Economics and Econometrics," Cambridge Books, Cambridge University Press, number 9780521871525.
    2. Blundell,Richard & Newey,Whitney K. & Persson,Torsten (ed.), 2006. "Advances in Economics and Econometrics," Cambridge Books, Cambridge University Press, number 9780521692083.
    3. Armstrong, Mark & Vickers, John, 2001. "Competitive Price Discrimination," RAND Journal of Economics, The RAND Corporation, vol. 32(4), pages 579-605, Winter.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

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    Cited by:

    1. Ramon Caminal, 2022. "Time‐Limited Loyalty Rewards," Journal of Industrial Economics, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 70(4), pages 962-998, December.
    2. Henri Bussink & Bas ter Weel, 2022. "Costs and benefits of an Individual Learning Account (ILA): A simulation analysis for the Netherlands," Tinbergen Institute Discussion Papers 22-077/V, Tinbergen Institute.
    3. Diego Escobari & Nicholas G. Rupp & Joseph Meskey, 2019. "An Analysis of Dynamic Price Discrimination in Airlines," Southern Economic Journal, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 85(3), pages 639-662, January.
    4. Ramon Caminal, 2012. "The Design and Efficiency of Loyalty Rewards," Journal of Economics & Management Strategy, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 21(2), pages 339-371, June.
    5. Ramon Caminal, 2009. "The design and efficiency of loyalty rewards," Working Papers 408, Barcelona School of Economics.
    6. Laurent Callot & Johannes Tang Kristensen, 2014. "Vector Autoregressions with parsimoniously Time Varying Parameters and an Application to Monetary Policy," Tinbergen Institute Discussion Papers 14-145/III, Tinbergen Institute, revised 09 Apr 2015.
    7. Morimoto, Yu, 2020. "Do citizens of a city that owns a local public airport have attachment to the airport and use it?," MPRA Paper 103442, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    8. Chan Wang & Pu‐yan Nie, 2020. "Retail competition using free shopping shuttle bus strategies," Managerial and Decision Economics, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 41(6), pages 1010-1019, September.
    9. Christiaan Behrens & Nathalie McCaughey, 2015. "Loyalty Programs and Consumer Behaviour: The Impact of FFPs on Consumer Surplus," Tinbergen Institute Discussion Papers 15-048/VIII, Tinbergen Institute.
    10. Takalo, Tuomas, 2019. "Switching costs in the Finnish retail deposit market," Research Discussion Papers 15/2019, Bank of Finland.
    11. de Jong, Gerben & Behrens, Christiaan & van Ommeren, Jos, 2019. "Airline loyalty (programs) across borders: A geographic discontinuity approach," International Journal of Industrial Organization, Elsevier, vol. 62(C), pages 251-272.
    12. A. Yeşim Orhun & Tong Guo & Andreas Hagemann, 2022. "Reaching for Gold: Frequent-Flyer Status Incentives and Moral Hazard," Marketing Science, INFORMS, vol. 41(3), pages 548-574, May.
    13. Foschi, Matteo, 2017. "Self-Control in the Retailing Industry: Inducing Rejection of Loyalty Schemes," CRETA Online Discussion Paper Series 37, Centre for Research in Economic Theory and its Applications CRETA.
    14. Socorro, M. Pilar & Betancor, Ofelia, 2020. "Air transport subsidies for resident passengers: The unexpected effects on competition," Research in Transportation Economics, Elsevier, vol. 79(C).
    15. Els Breugelmans & Tammo Bijmolt & Jie Zhang & Leonardo Basso & Matilda Dorotic & Praveen Kopalle & Alec Minnema & Willem Mijnlieff & Nancy Wünderlich, 2015. "Advancing research on loyalty programs: a future research agenda," Marketing Letters, Springer, vol. 26(2), pages 127-139, June.
    16. Espen R. Moen & Fredrik Wulfsberg & Øyvind Aas, 2020. "Price Dispersion and the Role of Stores," Scandinavian Journal of Economics, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 122(3), pages 1181-1206, July.
    17. Nesset, Erik & Helgesen, Øyvind, 2014. "Effects of switching costs on customer attitude loyalty to an airport in a multi-airport region," Transportation Research Part A: Policy and Practice, Elsevier, vol. 67(C), pages 240-253.
    18. de Boer, Evert R. & Gudmundsson, Sveinn Vidar, 2012. "30 years of frequent flyer programs," Journal of Air Transport Management, Elsevier, vol. 24(C), pages 18-24.
    19. Luttmann, Alexander & Ladd, Daniel, 2023. "Loyalty rewards and redemption behavior: Stylized facts for the U.S. airline industry," MPRA Paper 119214, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    20. Federico Rossi & Pradeep K. Chintagunta, 2023. "Consumer Loyalty Programs and Retail Prices: Evidence from Gasoline Markets," Marketing Science, INFORMS, vol. 42(4), pages 794-818, July.
    21. Escobari, Diego & Rupp, Nicholas & Meskey, Joseph, 2018. "Dynamic Price Discrimination in Airlines," MPRA Paper 88078, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    22. Takalo, Tuomas, 2019. "Switching costs in the Finnish retail deposit market," Bank of Finland Research Discussion Papers 15/2019, Bank of Finland.
    23. Agostini, Claudio A. & Inostroza, Diego & Willington, Manuel, 2015. "Price effects of airlines frequent flyer programs: The case of the dominant firm in Chile," Transportation Research Part A: Policy and Practice, Elsevier, vol. 78(C), pages 283-297.
    24. repec:zbw:bofrdp:2019_015 is not listed on IDEAS
    25. Yuk‐fai Fong & Qihong Liu, 2011. "Loyalty Rewards Facilitate Tacit Collusion," Journal of Economics & Management Strategy, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 20(3), pages 739-775, September.

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    More about this item

    JEL classification:

    • D82 - Microeconomics - - Information, Knowledge, and Uncertainty - - - Asymmetric and Private Information; Mechanism Design
    • L93 - Industrial Organization - - Industry Studies: Transportation and Utilities - - - Air Transportation
    • M31 - Business Administration and Business Economics; Marketing; Accounting; Personnel Economics - - Marketing and Advertising - - - Marketing

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