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Loyalty Programs

The psychology and economics of loyalty schemes.

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The Loyalty Trap — Why Points, Stamps and Memberships Cost You More Than You Earn

That coffee stamp card isn't rewarding your loyalty — it's engineering your habits. This report dismantles the behavioural architecture behind points, stamps, and memberships, from the endowed progress effect that makes pre-stamped cards so effective, to supermarket loyalty schemes where the data you surrender is worth far more than the points you earn, to the airline miles treadmill where your rewards quietly devalue every year while your spending doesn't.