Business of Loyalty: Using Big Data to Measure Sentiment Across Loyalty Programs
Photo Credit: A new study on loyalty looked at members of Cathay Pacific’s frequent flier program. Cathay Pacific
Skift Take
Until the time comes when airlines need to compete for customers again, passenger sentiment many not matter.
Loyalty programs in the airline industry have evolved dramatically over the last few years to favor high-spend customers and trim budget travelers from the ranks — after all, with the sector booming, who needs to incentivize new customers?
The course has slimmed down loyalty programs and aggravated some budget travelers, but until recently, most of the negative sentiment has been only recorded on the fringes of social media, where it's tough to draw quantitative trends.
Now, a new study from Travel Data Daily has been able to look at aggregate data across social channels to predict how unhappy loyalty program members can be and when they're at risk of taking business to other carriers.
The study used Cathay Pacific's Marco Polo program, which made major changes in 2015, as a case study. By analyzing the social feeds of over 13,000 elite program members, the study determined the points at which customers became unhappy with the program and the subsequent moment when they swi
