Resource investments made between customers and provider: A study of teenagers' loyalty to a summer camp

Generating long-term relationships is important to tourism businesses because such action often results in loyal customers. Although most authors agree that loyalty is a composite construct including behavior and affect, there is less agreement regarding how loyalty develops. Therefore, this study employed the Resource Investment Model (RIM) to examine how different types of loyal customers related to a tourism service provider. Data were collected from teenagers attending a resident camp in Taiwan during June, July and August 2003. Cluster analysis revealed that there were four distinct types of loyal customers according to the frequency of purchases and affect. Comparisons among the groups revealed that they differed with respect to some of the resources received from the provider but did not differ with respect to their investments in the provider. These findings provide partial support to the RIM and indicate that the study population did not conform to theorized rules of reciprocity in customer relationships.