BOSTON —Bar-coded icons of customer loyalty line the wallets and hang from the key chains of countless consumers, though that commitment isn’t always so richly rewarded.
According to marketing firm Colloquy’s Loyalty Census released last year, membership in U.S. customer-loyalty programs has reached 1.8 billion, up from 1.3 billion in 2007. The census showed that the average U.S. household has signed up for 14.1 loyalty programs, but only participates in 6.2 of them.
Why take part in only 44% of programs designed to....