Technique · Actionable Gamification
Lottery / Rolling Rewards (GT#74)
A draw in which someone wins each period, so staying in raises a user's cumulative chances: every receipt, review or completed action is an entry. Chou's anchor is a national receipt lottery that turned shoppers into tax enforcers; a free way to enter and sweepstakes rules are non-negotiable.
Plain label: periodic drawAlso known as: Lottery, Rolling Rewards, sweepstakes
How it works
The pull comes as much from wondering whether you will win as from the prize (CD7), and people cannot tell very small odds apart, so large prizes with low entry effort draw wide participation. Winners can feel chosen (CD1) and become lasting fans, and rewarding compliance through a draw can beat enforcement. The same blindness to odds is what makes lotteries exploitative for people prone to gambling.
Evidence warning
Sweepstakes law generally requires a free way to enter; check local rules, including Mexico, before launch.
Single-winner draws can backfire in cultures that dislike singling people out (AG p.311).
What the research says
Taiwan made every receipt a lottery ticket in 1951, so shoppers demanded receipts; tax revenue reportedly rose 75% in the first year.
AG Ch11 citing the Straits Times and Taipei Times (grade C), 1951
A 2010 Stockholm pilot entered drivers who kept to the limit into a lottery funded by speeders' fines; average speed reportedly fell by more than 20%.
AG Ch16 (widely reported field pilot; verify, grade C), 2010
How to build it
- Web
- Every review or completed profile is an entry in a monthly draw, with tiered prizes so many people win something small.
- B2B
- A draw among users who completed security setup this month.
- Email and SMS
- A webinar draw announced at the end, for attendees still present.
What can go wrong
- Paid entries without a free route.
- Targeting people prone to gambling, or minors.
- Hiding the odds.
Pairs well with
- Tie entries to behavior that helps the user or society.
- Disclose odds and prize values.
Limits
What we don’t claim
- Octalysis is a practitioner framework built from observing games, not a validated scientific model.Actionable Gamification Ch.15, pp.399-400
- Left Brain and Right Brain are a metaphor for extrinsic and intrinsic motivation, not a claim about neuroscience.Actionable Gamification Ch.13, pp.342-343
Sources
Actionable Gamification · Yu-kai Chou
Ch.11, p.301 · Ch.11, p.302 · Ch.11, p.303 · Ch.11, p.304 · Ch.16, p.442 · Ch.11, p.269
Source IDs: GT#74CD7
Book content is paraphrased, never quoted at length. Last verified October 24, 2026.
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