The Role of Habit in Building Customer Loyalty
Are Habit Loops the marketer’s friend – or enemy?
November 18, 2025
12:00 PM EST
Register below for this event.
About The Event
Are Your Customers Loyal—Or Just Stuck?
Habits shape buying behavior more than any points program or promotion. They can lock customers into your brand—or make it effortless for them to walk away.
This webinar flips the script on loyalty. We’ll ask the uncomfortable questions most brands avoid:
- Must you show loyalty first to your customers before expecting their allegiance in return?
- How much friction will consumers really tolerate before they leave?
- In 2025, is “contractual loyalty” enough—or is it just an illusion?
Join experts from Old Dominion University, ebbo, and The Wise Marketer for a fast-paced, research-backed discussion that challenges outdated thinking and surfaces the drivers of consumer commitment today.
Key Takeaways from this conversation:
- In depth knowledge of the Habit Loop research completed by Loyalty Science Lab
- Practical insights to help you apply research findings into your business
- Case studies illustrating how Habit Loops have impacted specific brands
- Tips and mini strategies to ensure that customer habits work “for you,” not against
If you think you know loyalty, this conversation may surprise you.
About ebbo
ebbo has a proud heritage of providing a range of customer loyalty solutions from free to premium loyalty tiers for clients across diverse industries. Relied upon by industry-leading retail brands and financial institutions, ebbo’s services and solutions include program strategy, communications planning and execution, creative, decision support analytics, and nimble technologies for data measurement, modeling and analysis. For additional information, please visit www.ebbo.com.
About Loyalty Science Lab
Loyalty Science Lab is a loyalty think tank housed in the Strome College of Business at Old Dominion University in Norfolk, VA, USA. Founded in 2020, Loyalty Science Lab's mission is to create and promote cutting-edge scientific research on brand and customer loyalty. The Lab champions the cause of loyalty by conducting rigorous research on brand loyalty and customer loyalty-related issues. To learn more about the Loyalty Science Lab, visit our website at https://www.odu.edu/loyalty-science-lab.
Featuring
Ryan Baltrip
Executive Director
Loyalty Science Lab
Carlos Dunlap-Beard
Vice President, Loyalty Strategy
ebbo
Carlos Dunlap-Beard leads ebbo’s thought leadership and loyalty program strategy, helping brands deepen customer engagement and drive long-term growth. With over 25 years of experience in B2C and B2B marketing, Carlos has built expertise across customer loyalty, engagement strategy, business development, data-driven marketing, and program design.
A recognized voice in loyalty and consumer engagement, Carlos has authored numerous articles, white papers, and blog posts featured in leading industry publications. Throughout his career, Carlos has partnered with a wide range of iconic brands, including Lane Bryant, Lowe’s, T-Mobile, Nestlé-Purina, Pepsi, Citi, American Express, Marvel, 7-Eleven, SeaWorld, and Hawaiian Airlines, among many others.
Lizzie Hughes
Vice President, Loyalty Strategy
ebbo
Carlos Dunlap-Beard leads ebbo’s thought leadership and loyalty program strategy, helping brands deepen customer engagement and drive long-term growth. With over 25 years of experience in B2C and B2B marketing, Carlos has built expertise across customer loyalty, engagement strategy, business development, data-driven marketing, and program design.
A recognized voice in loyalty and consumer engagement, Carlos has authored numerous articles, white papers, and blog posts featured in leading industry publications. Throughout his career, Carlos has partnered with a wide range of iconic brands, including Lane Bryant, Lowe’s, T-Mobile, Nestlé-Purina, Pepsi, Citi, American Express, Marvel, 7-Eleven, SeaWorld, and Hawaiian Airlines, among many others.
Matt McCormack
Tennant Success Manager
Mall of America
Matt McCormack joined the Mall of America marketing team in 2022 to lead the development and launch of a new loyalty membership program—one of the first of its kind for a retail and entertainment destination. In 2023, he integrated MOA’s popular Holiday Rewards program into the new platform, enhancing value for both guests and tenants. With over 20 years of experience in sports and entertainment marketing, Matt has built a career on connecting with diverse audiences through innovative, integrated campaigns. Outside of work, he and his family of four stay busy with Irish dancing, high school theatre, and frequent travel adventures.
HOST
Bill serves as Managing Editor of The Wise Marketer, known as The Global Voice of Customer Loyalty. The media site has been publishing news, insights, and research on customer loyalty, CRM, digital marketing and more for the past 18 years. Bill is also CEO Wise Marketer Group which operates The Loyalty Academy™ and WMG Advisory Services.