Are we living a reward crisis ?

At LNR - La Nouvelle Renaissance , we take a keen interest in all aspects of behavioral science. In our previous articles, we've already touched on the practice of rewarding, already ultra-present in advertising.

The media from which this practice originates - video games and social networks - are highly effective, but many still can't really understand their success.

What is really behind the success of these ultra-rewarding media?

01. VIEWPOINT?

?? The reason for the success of certain sectors, such as video games, is not due to artistic effort or the need to immerse the user, but to more complex cerebral mechanisms that drive them to addiction.

This need for human beings to seek maximum reward in the very short term is due to their very nature. However, the social context in which we evolve also plays a major role. A social context in which the logic of reward has become rarer: a veritable reward crisis. ??

For several decades now, we have been witnessing this phenomenon. A crisis of recognition and reward, where the gap between efforts made and perceived compensation creates a sense of injustice and demotivation in our society.

The average citizen's self-esteem is affected by a system of work and consumption that overwhelms him, driving him to seek rewards elsewhere.

02. EXPLANATION

The various components of this “crisis” affect all walks of life, but are particularly keenly felt in areas of high demand for commitment. Its effects are structurally changing these different environments, and their consequences are now being felt in our lives.?

?? The world of work

Work occupies almost 70% of our daily lives. If there's one area where it's important to feel good, and where it's normal to have expectations, it's this one. In 2023, the top two reasons for leaving a company were pay and lack of recognition.?

?? Employees who are robbed of their rewards show a drop in commitment. In France, only 7% of people say they are committed to their work. As a result, phenomena such as quiet quitting are on the rise, with 37% of French people claiming to be concerned.

?? The education system

Education is the backbone of our society. It's important to take care of it and ensure the well-being of our little ones. Higher education is the perfect representation of the lack of reward in our society. Young people invest in several years of study, which used to guarantee them a job. This is no longer the case; the reward has disappeared. In 2024, 80% of French students said they were anxious, and 85% of them cited the competitiveness of the job market and fear of unemployment as one of the sources.

?? The smooth running of the education system depends on student motivation. But motivation is becoming increasingly thin, to the point of calling into question the very necessity of studying. As a result of anxiety, over 40% of French students have considered stopping their studies.

?? Personal relationships

This rewards crisis is being felt right down to the private sphere. Often useful as a means of compensating for poorly functioning external spheres, personal relationships are synonymous with short-term psychological rewards. Today, however, more than ? of 19-29 year-olds say they feel lonely or very lonely, and ? for adults in the USA.?

?? People can't even take refuge in their personal spheres anymore, and the general mental state suffers. More than 1 in 5 people in France have taken medication for stress or depression in the past year.

In this environment, where the citizen is deprived of all rewards, a lack is created that generates sensitivity and a tropism for any reward on offer. The only way out is mass consumption of entertainment.

03.? DEMONSTRATION

People living in these disrupted environments in crisis of reward are the ones most affected by these societal changes. The most successful solutions are ultra-rewarding ecosystems that offer easily accessible, short-term rewards to fill the gap, like video-games and social media.

?? Video games

A record-breaking medium, the number of gamers worldwide passed the 3 billion mark this year. Considered as a niche market or culture for a long time, the latest figures demonstrate not only that we're in presence of one of the most democratized practice in the world, but also the one that generates the highest level of engagement and recurrency.

??♂??? The average age of gamers in France exceeded 40 this year.

??Social networks ?

Today, everyone is on social networks, and almost 90% of the world's adult population can be found on them. Created by and for the internet generation, social networks were originally a sphere “off-limits to parents”, a long time ago. Now they're the new public places accessible to everyone.

??♂???The average age of social network users in France is 42.?

The target audience for these ultra-rewarding media is changing. Once the sole focus of recognition-seeking teenagers, now populated by all strata of society. These radical evolutions demonstrate a structural change in our society. A general need for very short-term rewards.?

Are these new media such as video games and social media the answer to this reward crisis?

??By perfectly understanding human brain mechanisms, they have launched a structural movement that has prompted the old players to examine how this new medium manages to take such an active part in its users' need for immediate rewards.

By answering to the reward crisis, those new formats have also overpassed the attention crisis, and have taken the main part of the treasure to the rest of the media ecosystem. How can we drive those reward mechanisms to rebuild a healthy relationship between brands and consumers?

??If you'd like to learn more about these high-reward media and what you can learn from their success, read our other articles.

At LNR - La Nouvelle Renaissance, we transform creative, technological and societal disruptions into opportunities for brands. Would you like to join the movement? Find out more about our agency, on our website: https://lnr.agency/.