Carlson Marketing surveyed 6,000 UK consumers in its Relationship Builder 2005 survey and found that, despite 81 per cent of consumers being active members of loyalty schemes, this figure had dropped by 11 per cent since 2003.
Card ownership among those that belong to schemes is on the up, however. More than 50 per cent of consumers hold three or more loyalty cards, and the number holding five cards has risen by 10 per cent since 2003, signalling increasing levels of brand promiscuity.
It also shows that while some customers may be losing interest in loyalty schemes altogether, others are taking advantage of the benefits without feeling true loyalty towards the brand.
In fact, the research shows that the popularity of preferential treatment and third-party offers has halved since 2003.
Loyalty schemes are also no longer a prime reason for people choosing a company or a brand - just seven per cent said they would choose a particular brand or company on the basis of it offering a loyalty scheme.
More important to consumers are product quality and value for money, with approximately 70 per cent of consumers choosing these as the most important drivers to purchase.
Some schemes remain popular, however - largely those companies that use customer insight to drive offers, with Tesco Clubcard, Boots Advantage and Nectar coming tops in the study.
According to the Relationship Builder survey, the proportion of respondents that are members of these schemes has grown, while all others have dropped percentage points.
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