The IRF published The Psychology of Points after conducting extensive research into the effectiveness of point programs. I’ve attached the full report at the bottom of this blog.

The key takeaways are:

• Higher intrinsic motivation

• Higher organizational identification

• Higher employee engagement

• Greater satisfaction with their rewards and recognition

• Greater preference for working for an organization with a points reward program

From our literature review and expert interviews, we found that points rewards participants:

• Care more about the recognition, appreciation, and belonging associated with receiving points rewards than what the what the points are redeemed for

• Find points themselves memorable (e.g., “points feel like gifts”)

• May spend or save their points; use them for big or small dollar items, but receiving the points themselves delivers part of the reward (and the positive effects that follow)

IRF Psychology of Points