Impact Of Blockchain Technology In Enhancing Customer Loyalty Programs In Airline Business

One of the uniqueness of business is for firm to be customer focus. Study have shown that this could be achieved through blockchain technology in enhancing customer loyalty programs (Michael J. Casey 2015; John Ream et al 2016; Sean Dennis 2016; James O'Brien and Dave Montali, 2016; Peiguss 2012; Singh, Khan, 2012; and among others). Recent advances in block chain technology have provided the tools for marketing managers to create a new generation of being able to assess the level of control companies want to have over customer data and activities as well as security/privacy issues that always arise with every additional participant of the network While block chain technology is still in the early stages of adoption, it could prove valuable for loyalty rewards program providers. Hundreds of blockchain initiatives are already underway in various industries, particularly airline services, even though standardization is far from a reality. One attractive feature of loyalty rewards is that they are not core to business revenue and operations and companies willing to implement blockchain for customer loyalty programs benefit lower administrative costs, improved customer experiences, and increased user engagement (Michael J. Casey, 2015; James O'Brien and Dave Montali 2016; Peiguss 2012;  In today business world, companies have accelerated the use of Blockchain technology to enhance the brand recognition of their products and services. Company believes that the integration of Blockchain into the current business marketing strategy will enhance the growth of their products, and thus acting as a customer loyalty solution. The goal of this study is to obtain a deep understanding of the impact of blockchain technology in enhancing customer loyalty programs of airline business. To achieve the goal of the study, a contextualized and literature based research instrument was used to measure the application of the investigated “constructs”, and a survey was conducted to collect data from the sample population. A convenience sample of total (450) Questionnaires were distributed to customers, and managers of the surveyed airlines who could be reached by the researcher. 274 to airline customers/passengers, and the remaining 176 to managers in the various airlines researched. Questionnaires with instructions were hand-delivered to respondents. Out of the 397 completed questionnaires returned, 359 copies were found usable for the present study, resulting in an effective response rate of 79.7%. The respondents had different social, educational, and occupational backgrounds. The research instrument showed encouraging evidence of reliability and validity. Data were analyzed using descriptive statistics, percentages and ttest analysis. The findings clearly show that there is significant evidence that blockchain technology enhance customer loyalty programs of airline business. It was discovered that Usage of blockchain technology is emphasized by the surveyed airlines operators in Nigeria., the extent of effective usage of customer loyalty programs is related to blockchain technology, and that he level or extent of effective usage of blockchain technology does affect the achievement of customer loyalty program goals and objectives. Feedback from the research will assist to expand knowledge as to the usefulness of blockchain technology being a customer loyalty solution.