AN INDEX FOR THE MEASUREMENT OF CONSUMER LOYALTY*

The concept of consumer “loyalty” (i.e., preference for a particular store or brand) is intriguing to marketing scholars and practitioners. Research in this area would be enhanced by the acceptance of an operational measure of consumer loyalty. Loyalty appears to be a tri-dimensional concept; per cent of budget, allocated to the store or brand, amount of switching, and number of alternatives explored have been used to measure loyalty. Consequently, the authors propose a “loyalty index” which combines these three measures. An empirical test of the proposed index showed that the index did discriminate among degrees of consumer loyalty, and was related to consumer psychological characteristics in a manner similar to that of the generally used single measures of consumer loyalty.     

Mental health citizen surveys: a comparison of two within household telephone sampling techniques.

Two within household telephone sampling techniques for collecting citizen survey data for community mental health center's needs assessments were compared on the basis of respondent demographic characteristics; response, completion, and refusal rates; and, administrative costs. Initially, all households were chosen via random digit dialing. Then, one technique allowed the surveyor to interview any adult member of a household who answered the phone. The other technique used was developed by Troldahl and Carter and required the use of a reference table procedure to determine the appropriate respondent. While more expensive, the Troldahl-Carter method produced significantly better representativeness of the population for a rural county. Factors relating to a decision regarding which technique to employ are discussed.     

The evidence base for social support interventions in child and family practice: Emerging issues for research and practice

This paper examines the evidence base for interventions which seek to enhance social support resources for families with children at risk of adverse developmental outcomes. Substantive and methodological issues related to the implementation of social support interventions are discussed and a research agenda for the development, testing and evaluation of such interventions is presented.