The authors propose and empirically investigate the effect of category-specific attributes as important factors associated with the change in pre-versus post-loyalty program introduction category sales and profits. Category penetration and frequency are positively correlated with loyalty program success with an increase in sales and profits, whereas impulse buying and ability to stockpile show negative correlations. Furthermore, although introducing a loyalty program generates immediate spikes in sales and profits in most categories; its impact is generally short-lived. It results in an initial redistribution of category expenditures during the program launch, where consumers seemingly shift consumption from lightly purchased categories to heavily purchased categories. But the effect soon erodes. Nevertheless, by modeling the diffusion process of loyalty program performance, this paper finds that penetration rate and private label share are key drivers of a category's sustainable growth. The evolution of consumer price elasticities and promotion sensitivities are tracked pre- and post-loyalty program introduction, and profit-driving categories are identified according to their category characteristics. New insights are offered on category management and long-term program planning.

作者提出并实证研究了特定类别属性的影响，作为与忠诚度计划引入前与忠诚度计划引入后的类别销售和利润变化相关的重要因素。品类渗透率和频率与忠诚度计划的成功呈正相关，销售额和利润的增加，而冲动购买和库存能力则呈负相关。此外，虽然引入忠诚度计划会立即导致大多数类别的销售额和利润激增；它的影响通常是短暂的。它导致计划启动期间品类支出的初始重新分配，消费者似乎将消费从购买量较少的品类转移到购买量较大的品类。但这种效果很快就消失了。尽管如此，通过对忠诚度计划绩效的扩散过程进行建模，本文发现渗透率和自有品牌份额是类别可持续增长的关键驱动因素。跟踪消费者价格弹性和促销敏感度的演变前后忠诚度计划，并根据其类别特征识别利润驱动类别。提供了有关类别管理和长期项目规划的新见解。