Of course usage will go up when you animate it. That's like saying people click the Ok button more when you put it on a popup dialogue. The question is: do people keep using it when you don't animate it. Were they using it because it was animated, or because it's something they like to use?
Are you suggesting they're only clicking it because it shiny?
If they didn't like it they'd stop using it after the first click and the numbers wouldn't appear to go up more than a single little bump. Clearly it helps people to have that cue there.
