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Quote:Consumer loyalty has become such a ubiquitous goal for marketers that its definition is murky, at best. Ten years ago, a loyal customer participated with a chosen brand more frequently than the average shopper.

For marketers, the term has evolved to encompass frequency, recency of interaction and monetary value -- typically of the customer's transaction. For a while, customer satisfaction occupied the dais as the chief metric of consumer loyalty. The understanding of just what loyalty is, though, is shifting -- and that means methods for building it are changing too. Following are some dos and don'ts that take current conditions into account...

"Don't give an incentive or reward to a valued customer and then make it difficult to use," said Steve Georgeou, loyalty consultant and president of Geocom. Airlines immediately spring to mind. For instance, limited availability of airline award seats occurs all too frequently in frequent-flier programs...