$1.68 Can Drive Loyalty

A few days ago I was cleaning out my car and I found a Costco Cash Reward certificate for $1.68. It had been in my car for a while and I had gone to Costco twice past year with the single reason that I wanted to "cash" my rewards. Of course I parked, and forgot to bring the actual certificate into the store twice, and thus bought a lot of stuff I did not need, while not exchanging the certificate.

Just the gas to drive to Costco was more expensive than the certificate...but I still want to "get what was mine". Now the certificate had expired and I finally threw it away.

The Marketing power behind this effect of "ownership" and not wanting to give up something that we feel entitled to is very strong. It also applies to payments made to a SaaS Service. Once you are a paying subscriber, there is a tendency to want to use the product. If you don't, you can become an unhappy, frustrated client fast.

Now we got a new certificate. It's again in the car and I'm determined to get it cashed.