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Cornell Hospitality Quarterly, Vol. 49, No. 2, 105-121 (2008)
DOI: 10.1177/1938965508316017

A Qualitative Analysis of Slot Clubs as Drivers of Casino Loyalty

Flavia Hendler

William F. Harrah College of Hotel Administration at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas, fhendler{at}unlv.nevada.edu

Kathryn A. Latour

William F. Harrah College of Hotel Administration at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas, kathryn.latour{at}unlv.edu

The slot club is a very common type of loyalty program in the casino industry. In this research, the authors look at the deep meanings and emotions of a slot club for tourists and frequent local customers at a Las Vegas mega casino resort using an in-depth interview technique, the Zaltman Metaphor Elicitation Technique (ZMET). Results indicate that the opportunities for casino loyalty programs to establish emotional bonds with the customer lie in the capacity of reflecting human qualities in the slot club service delivery process, such as memory, creativity, and flexibility. The results also indicate that the slot club brings different meanings to different customer groups and that these emotional connections (or lack thereof) are best elucidated via this qualitative research technique that uses images, rather than words, to guide the in-depth interview. The authors discuss the implications of the results for loyalty programs as well as how this research technique might be used in other sectors of the hospitality industry.

Key Words: casino management • slot clubs • Las Vegas resorts


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