Promotions that encourage customers to spend more for an incentive need to make the additional value easy to understand. In a June 5, 2024 article, Elite Rewards' VP of Growth and Client Strategy, Jeff Magner, examines the approach sometimes called spaving: spending more in order to save more.

Magner argues that a retailer can gain additional volume while a customer receives a useful reward, provided the promotion delivers value and its terms are communicated clearly. He recommends recognizable products or rewards whose value customers can readily judge.

The examples include a $100 Mastercard reward, a Stanley tumbler, a Yeti cooler and AirPods. These are illustrations of familiar rewards, rather than a newly announced offer at a named retailer.

The article also recognizes the downside: an incentive can prompt someone to exceed their planned budget or buy items they do not need. Magner therefore connects trustworthy promotions with genuine usefulness and understandable terms, rather than treating extra spending alone as a successful outcome.