Background and aims: Casino loyalty programs are marketing strategies designed to foster attitudinal (i.e., identification and satisfaction) and behavioral (i.e., spending) loyalty among gamblers by offering rewards to members. Casino loyalty programs use a tier-based structure to segment members who spend more money into higher tiers, where they receive better rewards (compared to lower tiered members). Tier-based structures may encourage increased expenditure among patrons, especially among players living with a gambling disorder. The current work aimed to examine whether tier status and disordered gambling symptomatology interact to predict attitudinal and behavioral loyalty.
Methods: Study 1 used a cross-sectional design to examine whether tier status and disordered gambling symptomatology interact to predict self-reported loyalty among a sample of American casino loyalty program members (N = 396). In Study 2, archival player account data from Canadian casino loyalty program members (N = 649) were analyzed to examine whether tier status and disordered gambling symptomatology interact to predict objective measures of behavioral loyalty.
Results: The greatest effect of tier status on attitudinal and behavioral loyalty was observed among non-problem gamblers in the highest tiers. Tier status, however, did not influence loyalty among members high in disordered gambling symptomatology.
Discussion: Results suggest that once gambling has become problematic, loyalty programs may not influence player attitudes and behaviors. Non-problem gamblers may be particularly susceptible to the tiered structure of the programs.
Conclusion: Non-problem gamblers may benefit from casino loyalty programs in the short-term but longitudinal research is needed to understand the long-term influence of membership.
Keywords: attitudinal loyalty; behavioral loyalty; casino loyalty programs; disordered gambling; tier status.