“Are you a member of our rewards program?”

My answer to that question is always a resounding, “No.”

Then there’s always the follow-up question: “Would you like to be a member?”

No. No, I wouldn’t.

But, for many of my friends their response couldn’t be a happier, “Yes.”

It seems like everyone has their own reward card: the grocery store, the coffee shop, the drugstore and every store in the mall.

I’ve been weary about joining loyalty reward programs because I’ve been told that they’re collecting information about me to market to my needs. The idea that my every purchase may be tracked makes me a little uneasy, but for others—many others—it seems to be no big deal. In fact, in a 2006 CBC Marketplace report, it was estimated that over 76% of Canadians belonged to a reward program. I imagine that number has only gone up since. Most of my friends are some sort of club member.

And for students, loyalty rewards couldn’t be more enticing because, after all, it usually means lower prices.

That CBC Marketplace report had a look at reward programs across the country. They compared the cost of the same groceries purchased at a store with the reward discount to another grocery store without a discount and they discovered that the store without the discount was actually cheaper. It was only beneficial to have the card because it saved a couple of dollars at that specific store.

Consumers Against Supermarket Privacy Invasion and Numbering advocates for the privacy rights of supermarket consumers. Their website has a global directory of grocery stores around the world that highlights which stores have reward cards and which ones don’t.

The organization has a strong focus on the manipulation of supermarkets over their customers regarding the perceived benefits of reward programs:

The markets claim that the opportunity to participate in the program is their way of "rewarding" you for your loyalty to the store. But a reward is a tangible benefit you wouldn't have had otherwise. There is no benefit in being recorded and tracked for the "privilege" of paying the same sale prices you'd always been able to pay in the past. (In fact, you often wind up paying prices that are even higer than they were before the card program was introduced.) -CASPIAN

I’ll admit that I recently began collecting points on my credit card. When I began university, I made all of my purchases on credit and paid off the balance on the due date in order to establish a good credit rating. When I realized that I could be earning “valuable points” on these thousands of dollars, I signed up.

As I write this, though, it makes me nervous thinking about the analytics that may be being run on the few months worth of information that have been collected about me. The other half of me is looking forward to the blender I may one day have as a result of my new point collecting habits. I am also somewhat reassured by the fact that the points I gain on my credit card are from a semi-outside source. I don’t have to keep all of my purchases loyal to just one store. I can shop wherever I wish and accumulate points.

So, do you worry about giving up your information or are you all for “earning” free kitchen supplies?