Testing Loyalty Program Messaging with Synthetic Travelers

Challenge

How can you test loyalty messaging when your target audience is constantly in motion—literally and figuratively?

A global airline brand was preparing to revamp its loyalty program. With increasing competition in the post-pandemic travel rebound, the airline needed to reposition its program benefits and marketing messages. Their goal: boost enrollment among millennial and Gen Z travelers who fly internationally at least twice a year.

But traditional research approaches presented challenges:

• Frequent travelers are hard to reach and even harder to survey reliably
• Timing was tight—launch was scheduled within weeks
• The airline wanted to test five different message variants across three traveler profiles before selecting the final messaging strategy

The brand needed fast, credible, and actionable insights. That’s where DataDiggers stepped in—with synthetic personas.

Solution

‍Leveraging Syntheo for Simulated Yet Realistic Traveler Insights

Using Syntheo, DataDiggers built three synthetic traveler personas based on detailed behavioral, attitudinal, and demographic modeling:

1. The Digital Nomad – a 28-year-old freelance designer who values flexibility and global mobility
2. The Miles Maximizer – a 35-year-old corporate consultant who optimizes travel rewards
3. The Experience Seeker – a 31-year-old solo traveler drawn to cultural immersion

Each persona was modeled using:

• Real-world airline loyalty program engagement patterns
• Verified behavioral and purchase data from DataDiggers' proprietary panels
• Psychographic signals like motivations, lifestyle priorities, and emotional triggers

We then simulated responses to five messaging variants, each highlighting different aspects of the loyalty program:

• Status perks
• Sustainability tie-ins
• Exclusive partnerships
• Gamification elements
• “Earn everywhere” flexibility

The goal was to determine which combinations resonated most strongly with each traveler type—focusing on metrics like message clarity, emotional appeal, and intent to enroll.

Results

Faster, Sharper, and More Targeted Messaging Insights

💡 Turnaround Time: Under 48 hours from message input to insight delivery
📊 Insights Delivered: Actionable persona-by-persona breakdown of message performance
📈 Top Insight:

“Gamification” messaging performed 30% better with Digital Nomads than other personas—especially when paired with mobile-first experiences.

🚀 Impact:

• The airline tailored its digital campaign to emphasize different messages across platforms: sustainability + perks on business travel blogs, gamified mobile messages for social media, and “earn anywhere” flexibility in email campaigns
• Follow-up research with live panel respondents (via DataDiggers' Brainactive platform) validated the synthetic results with a 92% correlation to actual preferences

Why It Worked

• Synthetic personas enabled early testing without needing hard-to-reach travelers to be “in the room”
• Scenario modeling through Modeliq helped forecast long-term engagement likelihood
• Bias correction with Correlix ensured the insights weren’t skewed by over-idealized personas

DataDiggers’ combination of synthetic intelligence and human data science gave the client a research advantage they couldn’t achieve with traditional tools alone.

Client Testimonial

“We were skeptical at first about using synthetic travelers. But the insights were not only fast—they felt eerily accurate. The alignment with our follow-up live survey blew us away. This helped us de-risk our messaging decisions and move faster with confidence.”
— VP of Loyalty & CX, Global Airline Brand

Final Takeaway

When real travelers are hard to reach, synthetic ones can still show you the way forward. With DataDiggers’ Syntheo, brands can test, learn, and adapt before committing to expensive rollouts—unlocking faster, smarter decision-making in competitive markets.

Reach out to us to learn more about Syntheo.