Most people would agree that loyalty is a good thing; whether in terms of inter-personal relationships, or in the choices we make about who we do business with. However recent debate surrounding the usefulness and validity of loyalty programmes have left many questioning the true purpose of rewarding loyalty. With approximately 85% of households in the UK owning at least one loyalty card (TNS Market Research) yet over half forgetting to redeem our rewards, perhaps one factor fuelling the debate is a disconnection between customers’ expectation of how their loyalty should be recognised and the reality of what they receive.