The social influence of other consumers on consumers’ reward donations

Abstract

Loyalty reward programs and corporate social responsibility initiatives are ubiquitous in today’s corporate world, yet little is known how they can be synthesized to benefit companies and those in need. In two studies, we examine how the social influence of other consumers (the presence of other consumers and loyalty status tier) interact with reward type (effort-based vs. surprise) to influence consumers’ propensity to donate their loyalty rewards to charity. Furthermore, we uncover the underlying psychological mechanisms (i.e. instrumentality and self-enhancement) explaining the effects. Our findings indicate that hospitality operators should design loyalty reward programs that involve the presence of other consumers to induce reward donations. However, if the goal is to solicit donations from solo consumers, surprise rewards (vs. effort-based rewards) are more effective. In addition, we show that both types of rewards are effective among high-tier consumers, whereas only surprise rewards lead to high donation intent among low status consumers.