Report
497
Number
Jan 24 2020
For the Long Run: Leveraging Reflexive Opportunities
Your credit union can build life-long member loyalty by creating opportunities for members to reflect on their relationship with the credit union. These “reflexive opportunities” tap into members’ self-identity, enhance defining moments, and support life-changing events that bind members more closely to your credit union brand.
Executive Summary

When Filene fellow Hope Schau was nearly twenty years old, several employees of her family’s credit union arrived at her home bearing casseroles and sat with Hope’s mom to help her complete the paperwork required when someone dies. This moment of empathy from credit union folks impressed Hope so much that she recounts this story often, and it has become a key moment of reflexivity that connected her identity and life journey to her credit union. This moment shaped her work as a leading scholar of marketing for credit unions.
In an effort to maintain engagement with customers, firms are paying closer attention to consumption journeys and how brands contribute not only to what people do, but also to who they are. The extent to which a consumer’s identity and sense of self in the world can come to overlap with a brand increases perceived value and connection with that brand.
Filene's Center for Consumer Decision Making is generously funded by:
