A research study submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Business Administration, School of Management

Research Studies Project Report (M. BA.) - Asian Institute of Technology, 2004

Loyalty programs are not recent. In 1981, this marketing strategy has been adopted by the American Airlines with the program " AA vantage" and followed by other airline companies. They are not only developed in airline companies, but also in others sectors such as banks, super markets, and hotels ... There are different types of loyalty programs but the most widespread is the loyalty card. The objective of these programs is to reward to the best customers and to retain them. The loyalty programs are actually considered as a fundamental strategy by a lot of companies. They are considered as a defensive strategy with the hope that the cost to retain a customer is less expensive than to find a new customer and the best customers are most profitable. Some companies begin to get profit from the loyalty programs but some others cannot find profit from those programs. So, this study focuses on the effectiveness of loyalty programs. It answers then to the following questions: are the loyalty programs really effective? Do they really increase the customers' loyalty? This research is a study on contribution to a better knowledge of this kind of marketing program (loyalty programs). This study analyzes also in detail the practice of loyalty programs and the place of loyalty programs in the marketing strategy in Air France and Thai Airways International in order to understand clearly this marketing strategy

In French