Loyalty programs: we pretend to be loyal to points, not brands

Loyalty programs are the rare corporate invention that admits what it is. Nobody joins a coffee chain's rewards scheme out of affection for the chain. We join because we have already decided to buy coffee there, and the card simply turns a habit into a ledger. The points then do something curious: they make us feel we are collecting something real, so we keep returning for a balance we could never cash out in any meaningful sense. The reward is mostly the sensation of progress. What fascinates me is how willingly we accept this. We read tiers, badges and expiry dates as if they were promises between friends, then grumble when the airline devalues miles we never thought of as money. The program is cynical in design, but our participation is the real puzzle. We keep choosing to be enrolled.