The Customer Loyalty Ladder

I found a very interesting column in the Appleton Post-Crescent, June 18th about customers that made a lot of sense. The author of the article is John VanDriest and he offers the following identity to the rungs on the customer loyalty ladder. He sees these very discrete steps of customer involvement that he believes can/will? eventually lead to a loyal customer. I have modified the words to make it more inclusive to both products and services.
First rung - Awareness: the customer thinks - I wasn't aware of this product/service
Second rung - Comprehension - the customer thinks - This meets a lot of my needs
Third rung - Interest - the customer thinks - This is better than others I am aware of
Fourth rung - Purchase - the customer thinks - I think I'll give it a try
Fifth rung - Repeat purchase - the customer thinks - I liked it the firsst time; I think I'll try it again
Sixth rung - Advocate - the customer thinks - This is my brand of choice
Seventh rung - the customer thinks and concludes -Not only do I use this product/service, I have told everyone I know about it. Hmmm, I wonder what else they have to offer.

This ladder seems to make sense, albeit it is very simple. The key is that it gives an interesting perspective on where to spend the efforts to move the customer up to the next rung.