Ulterior Motives

How goals, both seen and unseen, drive behavior.

by Art Markman, Ph.D.

The psychology of loyalty programs

By Art Markman, Ph.D. on October 5, 2010 in Ulterior Motives

As a professor, I end up traveling a fair amount. I go to conferences, give talks at other universities, and consult for businesses that are interested in learning more about the way people think. The travel market is competitive, and many companies in the travel industry compete for my loyalty using programs designed to give me rewards--the more that I use that company. Read More

Points

Submitted by Anonymous on January 26, 2012 - 9:33am.

Airline points are complicated. Most travelers are business people. So they are not spending the money their company is. So they will pay more for the points and then take their family for a vacation on the points. This creates loyalty with the company they work for not the airline. Because when those same people have to pay for the tickets out of their own pockets the will use a discount website over a preferred airline.
In our studies we found that airline points do not help consumers nor the airlines. But they do help the business class flyer.