I remember a study that noted that random awards not given to everyone were seen to have more morale boosts than rewards that people thought were small that were given to be everyone.
But yeah it amazes me people can't figure out the tiny reward is wonky.
I find "merit"/"performance" based raises for like 2 or 3% to be insulting.
You think I wasn't already doing my best, but what's going to motivate me to really give you my best is the promise of a 2% raise, if I successfully navigate the insane beurocracy to fill out my paperwork the right way to game the system and have my manager cooperate?
You don't just think I take no pride in my work and don't care about the project/mission itself, you also think I'm cheap/desperate.
But yeah it amazes me people can't figure out the tiny reward is wonky.