Office Depot rewards ‘mobile abstinence’ among college students

Taking a lesson from B.F. Skinner, Office Depot is taking steps to reward college students for refraining from using their phones at the most critical time of the day — during class.



College students are so obsessed, and thus distracted, by their phones that 33% said they checked their device a minimum of 10 times a day, according to a study conducted by the College of Journalism and Mass Communications at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln



Eager to change the trend, Office Depot partnered with Pocket Points, which ironically, is an app that rewards students for ignoring their phones during class. When students open the app on campus and lock their phones, they start earning points that can be redeemed directly through the app or online to save money on school and dorm supplies online at officedepot.com. Office Depot is the sole national school and office supply retailer to feature the app.



“Office Depot’s exclusive partnership with Pocket Points furthers our commitment to finding new and innovative ways to help students utilize technology to succeed in the classroom,” said Diane Nick, senior VP of marketing for Office Depot, Inc. “In addition to helping students maintain good classroom habits throughout the year, Office Depot wants to provide them with access to savings on the gear they need to succeed.”



The Office Depot partnership is available in 45 of Pocket Points’ markets, including Auburn University, University of Colorado-Boulder, Pennsylvania State University and Texas A&M University, among others, according to a company statement.