• by Laurie Sullivan  @lauriesullivan, July 21, 2015

A paid-search advertisement that persuades someone to click or take action requires an emotional response similar to brand loyalty. Emotions determine decisions, especially for the millennial generation.

The findings from a study scheduled for release on Wednesday reveal that 59.5% of millennials are willing to earn loyalty points in exchange for engaging with brands. In fact, millennials are 18.6% more likely than baby boomers to want to earn points for engaging in a loyalty program.

The 2015 CrowdTwist Loyalty Program Report -- the first in a three-part series -- was conducted in June 2015. The findings were commissioned to understand the attitudes of the millennial generation toward loyalty and rewards programs, and what activities motivate them to remain engaged with a brand and what drives behavior. A sample of 1,208 North American consumers ages 18 to 69 participated in online survey.

Some 67.9% of millennials said they don’t earn points for engaging with a brand through such means as tweeting, posting comments or reviews, opening and clicking emails, or checking-in. The report found that 44.8% would favor earning points for visiting a Web site or watching a video, and 43.3% said they would like to earn points for opening and reading emails from a brand.

Some 64.5% of respondents participating in this survey are quite loyal or extremely loyal to their favorite brands, but 36.6% said they might consider switching to another brand. Some reasons include a lack of compelling or relevant rewards, it takes too long for points to accumulate, or there's not enough ways to earn points.

While consumers must love the brand, saving money and receiving rewards are the top motivations for millennials to join loyalty programs. In fact 83.3% of millennials are motivated to join loyalty products to save money, and 71.6% say receiving rewards is their main motivation.

There is an opportunity for brands to focus on rewards that are relevant and meaningful to the audience they target. This segment also participates in loyalty offerings for other reasons. About 36.1% like accessing member-only benefits, 21.6% like to be treated as a VIP, and 20.9% like to learn about new products and services.