A study on coupon use by two professors from the University of Virginia and posted on the Washington Post finds that a large portion of the customers exposed to the marketing message on a coupon are more likely to buy the product, even if they don't use the coupon.

The article, written by Rajkumar Venkatesan and Paul Farris, University of Virginia business professors, says the exposure from an advertising message with a coupon works better when coupons are tailored toward an individual, distributed selectively, presented as unexpected reward for customer loyalty and offer a significant savings.

"Although mere exposure to customized coupon campagins can improve sales …, we caution against eliminating discounts and merely mailing advertisements," the professors say, adding that having discounts give customers a reason to pay attention. The campaigns with coupons as they described delivered returns in excess of 15 percent.

The Secret Marketer blog on Marketing Week says loyalty cards can be a big driver of customer loyalty, especially when rewards are given. He said while loyalty is not soley driven by loyalty cards and coupons, businesses that offer incentives for customers tend to do better than businesses that do not offer anything.

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