What term describes payments made to buyers to influence their purchasing decisions?

The term that accurately describes payments made to buyers to influence their purchasing decisions is incentives. Incentives are typically used in a legal and ethical manner within sales strategies to encourage customers to make purchases or engage with a product or service. They can take various forms, including cash payments, bonuses, gifts, or rewards programs, all designed to motivate buyers.

Bribes, on the other hand, imply a secretive or unethical payment intended to sway an individual’s decisions, which is generally frowned upon in professional and legal contexts. Commissions relate to payments made to salespeople based on their sales performance rather than directly to buyers. Discounts are price reductions offered to customers but don't constitute a direct payment intended to influence their decision-making in quite the same way as incentives. Thus, incentives is the appropriate term for payments aimed at positively influencing buying behavior.