What Gen Z actually told a room full of loyalty marketers (I was there, and I agree)

As NeoDay, we brought four Gen Z students to the stage at Loyalty Summit CXM 2026 for an unscripted panel on what loyalty actually means to their generation. The session was moderated by our partner Pauline van Dongen, Certified Loyalty Expert. 

I was there covering it. I am also Gen Z. And for most of the session, I was quietly nodding. 

What the students said was direct, honest, and at times uncomfortable for the brands in the room. Here is what they said, and why I think they are right. 

They’re in your program. They just don’t care.

Gen Z averages 15 to 30 loyalty memberships. That number might feel reassuring if you are tracking acquisition. It should not be. 

The students described something I recognize completely. You join for the welcome discount. You get added to an email list. You move on. The program becomes invisible within days. 

I do this too. I have a dedicated email address I use just for sign-ups. It has thousands of unread messages. I open it maybe once a quarter, usually to sign up for a new loyalty program for the initial discount. 

This is not a niche behavior. It is a common. And it means that getting someone into your program is genuinely the easy part, although I know how hard it can seem from a loyalty perspective. Keeping our, Gen Z's, attention is where most brands are losing. 

The students also described the pattern clearly: 

• Join for the welcome discount, disengage almost immediately 

• Marketing emails go to a separate inbox created specifically to keep them out of the main one 

• Messages with no personalisation, no first name, no relevance to actual behaviour, are ignored entirely 

• They feel treated as numbers, not people 

The core problem is not acquisition. It is keeping the attention.

What actually works for Gen Z, and why?

Not everything is broken. The students were clear about which programs they genuinely use and why.

The brands they named: Vinted, Nike, Sephora, and Urban Outfitters. For Vinted, they pointed to its buy-sell dual functionality and member-get-member rewards as reasons they keep coming back. For Nike, it was the app-based customization features that let them personalize products, like their shoe color. Sephora and Urban Outfitters were mentioned as programms they actively use due to influencer marketing, without one single feature standing out, the overall experience just feels right to them.

The common thread is not discounts, it is relevance and identity. They say they're more likely to be part of programs where they feel like brands represent them.

Email is not the channel. Personalization is the filter.

When asked about communication, the students were unanimous: email does not reach them. Several have dedicated inboxes they never check for marketing messages.

Push notifications are different, but only when they are well-timed and relevant. The Duolingo example came up: short, personality-driven nudges that feel like a conversation rather than a broadcast.

The key insight is that channel matters less than personalisation. A well-timed push notification beats a weekly email newsletter, not because of the format but because of the relevance.

Data privacy also came up. Gen Z is willing to share personal data in exchange for better experiences, we are very used to it, but they are paying more attention to how it is used. Recent high-profile data breaches have made them more cautious. Trust is earned, not assumed.

And then there was the AI conversation..

I did not expect this to come up, but it turned out to be one of the more honest moments of the whole session. 

Yes, they use AI. For studying, for putting together outfits, for getting things done faster. That part did not surprise anyone. 

What did surprise some people in the room was what came next. These students are not rushing to integrate AI into every part of their lives. They are selective. They draw boundaries around it. Staying connected to themselves matters more than being connected to every new tool. 

As someone from the same generation, this makes complete sense to me. We grew up online. We have watched platforms become addictive by design. The instinct to be deliberate about new technology is not technophobia. It is self-awareness. 

For loyalty marketers, this is worth sitting with. AI-powered personalisation is not something you drop to the table when talking to this audience. The value has to be obvious, and the boundary has to be clear. 

What this means for loyalty marketers

Of course the students walking off that stage did not represent every Gen Z consumer. But the patterns they described are consistent with what the research shows.

Three things that matter for this audience:

• Personalization at every touchpoint: First name is the floor, not the ceiling. Behavior-based messaging is the expectation.

• Programs with a purpose beyond discounts: Gen Z gravitates toward brands that reflect their values and foster a real sense of community.

  • That said, they are not opposed to a good deal. A personalised discount code with their name on it? Cool idea, right! It feels less like a promotion and more like the brand actually knows them.

• Visual and experiential quality: A program that looks generic gets treated generically. Design and UX are not cosmetic, they are functional.

If your loyalty program was built around a welcome discount and a monthly email, it may be technically running but it is not working for this generation.