Loyalty Programme and Meta-Services: Insights from the Case of Airline Alliances

This research focuses on the customers' perception of loyalty programme offered by networked service providers such as airline alliances. The authors call such services meta-services. Their main hypothesis is that after experiencing meta-services delivered by meta-service providers, consumers synthesise a part of their perceptions in terms of the perceived benefits of the loyalty programme. This assessment will influence the perceived value, satisfaction, and at last behavioural intentions. The authors' point of view is to highlight the determinants of this assessment, including the quality of the proposed services and rewards. A quantitative survey was conducted in an airline alliance context. A structural equation model is tested in order to verify if the hypotheses are acceptable. It also shows how passengers build their global evaluation of a frequent flyer program and how far it influences their future behaviour towards the alliance members.