Rasa Viederytė-Žilienė

In the marketing landscape, there has been a noticeable shift from the well-established “customer retention” loyalty programs of the 2010s to the emerging trend of “customer attraction” programs in the 2020s. This study aims to investigate the underlying reasons behind these transformations and identify the key components shaping a contemporary customer’s loyalty towards brands. To accomplish this, an empirical research was undertaken, interviewing 129 representatives of the “EU-Conexus” network, which education and research institutions are located in Lithuania (i.e., Klaipeda University), Spain (i.e., Catholic University of Valencia), Croatia (i.e., University of Zadar), Romania (i.e., Technical University of Civil Engineering), Greece (i.e., Agricultural University of Athens) and France (i.e., La Rochelle Université). The study employed a quantitative methodology, using a standardised online questionnaire contained multiple-choice, single-choice 18 detailed closed questions. The collected research data were subsequently analysed using MS Excel software through the application of descriptive statistics data processing techniques. The findings of this study revealed that regular and annoying promotional material and “intricate” loyalty programs are usually irritating contemporary customers and can be a reason to leave a brand. Consequently, modern brands are encouraged to regularly rethink – re-evaluate and re-design – their loyalty marketing strategies to become relevant to customers’ needs. The study also highlighted the key components significantly influencing the loyalty of respondents: (i) high quality and responsibly priced goods and (or) services, (ii) well-organised customer service, (iii) a “rational” customer loyalty program, and (iv) an adequate number of promotional messages containing relevant content.

Acknowledgment
The authors are sincerely thankful to the “EU-Conexus” community for their benevolent and active participation in the research implemented in frames of this study.

Type of the article: Theoretical Article

Abstract
Industrial symbiosis has gained increasing importance as a systemic approach within the circular economy for improving resource efficiency and reducing greenhouse gas emissions. The aim of this study is to develop a theoretical framework explaining how industrial symbiosis networks contribute to greenhouse gas emission reduction within an environmental economics perspective. The study is based on a theoretical analysis and conceptual synthesis of industrial ecology and environmental economics literature.
The results identify three core operational mechanisms – material substitution, energy cascading, and waste valorization – through which industrial symbiosis reduces lifecycle emissions, and structure their relationships within a framework consisting of four interrelated components: industrial symbiosis activities, operational mechanisms, environmental performance outcomes, and environmental economic outcomes. Greenhouse gas emissions expressed in CO2-equivalent terms are conceptualized as the primary environmental performance indicator, while economic indicators such as cost savings, eco-efficiency, and emission abatement cost are integrated to explain how emission reduction aligns with economic efficiency. The framework demonstrates that industrial symbiosis functions as a decentralized coordination mechanism that reduces environmental externalities through system-level resource optimization rather than technological change alone.
The findings contribute to environmental economics theory by clarifying the relationship between industrial cooperation, environmental performance indicators, and economic efficiency, providing a structured basis for future empirical assessment and policy evaluation.