The real question is, do we ever do something (target behavior) on our own accord, or will something or someone always need to push and prod us? Pushing and prodding a user to behave in accordance with our system is not sustainable over the long term. We need to make our target behaviors something our players will "want" to continue with without provocation. We do not want to continually pay them to execute our target behavior. We want them to act in accordance with the system, without us doing things and exerting an enormous amount of energy for them to do so. In actuality, we want them to do it on their own Free Will. We want our target behaviors to become something they enjoy doing.
So, what do people "like" to do? We know they like to do things that are fun. People do things they find enjoyable. They like to do things where there is an intrinsic benefit. The concept of rewards is a major focus in gamification. Some of the first things that come to one...