IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/gam/jsusta/v13y2021i13p7177-d582678.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

How to Effectively Design Referral Rewards to Increase the Referral Likelihood for Green Products

Author

Listed:
  • Di Kuang

    (School of Management and Economics, Beijing Institute of Technology, Beijing 100081, China)

  • Xiao-Fei Li

    (College of Business Administration, Capital University of Economics and Business, Beijing 100070, China
    School of Economics and Management, Tsinghua University, Beijing 100084, China)

  • Wen-Wen Bi

    (School of Economics and Management, Yan’an University, Yan’an 716000, China)

Abstract

Interpersonal referrals can effectively promote purchases. In view of the low sales of green products, this study introduces the referral reward program into green marketing and investigates the impact of reward type on customers’ referral likelihood for green product. Through a lab experiment with 302 participants in China involved, this study reveals the differential effects of monetary versus donation rewards on existing customers’ referral likelihood. Specifically, compared with monetary rewards, donation rewards are more effective in promoting recommendations. It is also indicated that the perceived fit between the reward and green products partially mediates the relationship between the reward type and referral likelihood. In addition, the relationship between the reward type and perceived fit is moderated by consumers’ green product knowledge. This research not only extends the literature on green marketing and referral reward programs, but also provides feasible suggestions for government and enterprises to promote green products and to improve social wellbeing.

Suggested Citation

  • Di Kuang & Xiao-Fei Li & Wen-Wen Bi, 2021. "How to Effectively Design Referral Rewards to Increase the Referral Likelihood for Green Products," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(13), pages 1-16, June.
    • Handle: RePEc:gam:jsusta:v:13:y:2021:i:13:p:7177-:d:582678
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/13/13/7177/pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/13/13/7177/
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Bateson, John E G & Hui, Michael K, 1992. "The Ecological Validity of Photographic Slides and Videotapes in Simulating the Service Setting," Journal of Consumer Research, Journal of Consumer Research Inc., vol. 19(2), pages 271-281, September.
    2. Beatty, Sharon E & Talpade, Salil, 1994. "Adolescent Influence in Family Decision Making: A Replication with Extension," Journal of Consumer Research, Journal of Consumer Research Inc., vol. 21(2), pages 332-341, September.
    3. Hong Wang & Baolong Ma & Rubing Bai, 2019. "How Does Green Product Knowledge Effectively Promote Green Purchase Intention?," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 11(4), pages 1-13, February.
    4. Aaron R. Brough & James E. B. Wilkie & Jingjing Ma & Mathew S. Isaac & David Gal, 2016. "Is Eco-Friendly Unmanly? The Green-Feminine Stereotype and Its Effect on Sustainable Consumption," Journal of Consumer Research, Journal of Consumer Research Inc., vol. 43(4), pages 567-582.
    5. Wirtz, Jochen & Bateson, John E. G., 1999. "Consumer Satisfaction with Services: Integrating the Environment Perspective in Services Marketing into the Traditional Disconfirmation Paradigm," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 44(1), pages 55-66, January.
    6. David B. Dose & Gianfranco Walsh & Sharon E. Beatty & Ralf Elsner, 2019. "Unintended reward costs: the effectiveness of customer referral reward programs for innovative products and services," Journal of the Academy of Marketing Science, Springer, vol. 47(3), pages 438-459, May.
    7. Lafferty, Barbara A., 2007. "The relevance of fit in a cause-brand alliance when consumers evaluate corporate credibility," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 60(5), pages 447-453, May.
    8. Eyal Biyalogorsky & Eitan Gerstner & Barak Libai, 2001. "Customer Referral Management: Optimal Reward Programs," Marketing Science, INFORMS, vol. 20(1), pages 82-95, August.
    9. Sarah Clemente & Eric Dolansky & Antonia Mantonakis & Katherine White, 2014. "The effects of perceived product-extrinsic cue incongruity on consumption experiences: The case of celebrity sponsorship," Marketing Letters, Springer, vol. 25(4), pages 373-384, December.
    10. Vijay Viswanathan & Sebastian Tillmanns & Manfred Krafft & Daniel Asselmann, 2018. "Understanding the quality–quantity conundrum of customer referral programs: effects of contribution margin, extraversion, and opinion leadership," Journal of the Academy of Marketing Science, Springer, vol. 46(6), pages 1108-1132, November.
    11. Sandor Czellar, 2003. "Consumer attitude toward brand extensions : An Integrative Model and Research Propositions," Post-Print hal-00480357, HAL.
    12. Ying Sun & Biao Luo & Shanyong Wang & Wenpei Fang, 2021. "What you see is meaningful: Does green advertising change the intentions of consumers to purchase eco‐labeled products?," Business Strategy and the Environment, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 30(1), pages 694-704, January.
    13. Berinsky, Adam J. & Huber, Gregory A. & Lenz, Gabriel S., 2012. "Evaluating Online Labor Markets for Experimental Research: Amazon.com's Mechanical Turk," Political Analysis, Cambridge University Press, vol. 20(3), pages 351-368, July.
    14. Jin, Liyin & Huang, Yunhui, 2014. "When giving money does not work: The differential effects of monetary versus in-kind rewards in referral reward programs," International Journal of Research in Marketing, Elsevier, vol. 31(1), pages 107-116.
    15. Neeraj Arora & Ty Henderson, 2007. "Embedded Premium Promotion: Why It Works and How to Make It More Effective," Marketing Science, INFORMS, vol. 26(4), pages 514-531, 07-08.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Elizabeth Emperatriz García-Salirrosas & Rafael Fernando Rondon-Eusebio, 2022. "Green Marketing Practices Related to Key Variables of Consumer Purchasing Behavior," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(14), pages 1-19, July.

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Lili Wang & Zoey Chen, 2022. "The effect of incentive structure on referral: the determining role of self-construal," Journal of the Academy of Marketing Science, Springer, vol. 50(5), pages 1091-1110, September.
    2. Heike M. Wolters & Christian Schulze & Karen Gedenk, 2020. "Referral Reward Size and New Customer Profitability," Marketing Science, INFORMS, vol. 39(6), pages 1166-1180, November.
    3. Saddam A. Hazaea & Ebrahim Mohammed Al-Matari & Khaled Zedan & Saleh F. A. Khatib & Jinyu Zhu & Hamzeh Al Amosh, 2022. "Green Purchasing: Past, Present and Future," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(9), pages 1-28, April.
    4. Mendini, Monica & Peter, Paula C. & Gibbert, Michael, 2018. "The dual-process model of similarity in cause-related marketing: How taxonomic versus thematic partnerships reduce skepticism and increase purchase willingness," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 91(C), pages 195-204.
    5. Zhan, Mengmeng & Huang, Minxue & Li, Aoqi & Yang, Yvmeng, 2023. "The role of impulsive behaviour and meta-perception in referral reward programs," Journal of Retailing and Consumer Services, Elsevier, vol. 75(C).
    6. Wang, Xia & Ding, Ying, 2022. "The impact of monetary rewards on product sales in referral programs: The role of product image aesthetics," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 145(C), pages 828-842.
    7. Vijay Viswanathan & Sebastian Tillmanns & Manfred Krafft & Daniel Asselmann, 2018. "Understanding the quality–quantity conundrum of customer referral programs: effects of contribution margin, extraversion, and opinion leadership," Journal of the Academy of Marketing Science, Springer, vol. 46(6), pages 1108-1132, November.
    8. Dan Zhou & Zhong Yao, 2015. "Optimal Referral Reward Considering Customer’s Budget Constraint," Future Internet, MDPI, vol. 7(4), pages 1-14, December.
    9. Tejaswi Patil & Zillur Rahman, 2023. "Mapping the Cause-Related Marketing (CRM) field: document co-citation and bibliographic coupling approach," International Review on Public and Nonprofit Marketing, Springer;International Association of Public and Non-Profit Marketing, vol. 20(2), pages 491-520, June.
    10. David B. Dose & Gianfranco Walsh & Sharon E. Beatty & Ralf Elsner, 2019. "Unintended reward costs: the effectiveness of customer referral reward programs for innovative products and services," Journal of the Academy of Marketing Science, Springer, vol. 47(3), pages 438-459, May.
    11. Xiaojun Fan & Nianqi Deng & Yi Qian & Xuebing Dong, 2022. "Factors Affecting the Effectiveness of Cause-Related Marketing: A Meta-Analysis," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 175(2), pages 339-360, January.
    12. Qi Wang & Yunxia Mao & Ji Zhu & Xiaohang Zhang, 2018. "Receiver responses to referral reward programs in social networks," Electronic Commerce Research, Springer, vol. 18(3), pages 563-585, September.
    13. Itani, Omar S. & El Haddad, Rania & Kalra, Ashish, 2020. "Exploring the role of extrovert-introvert customers’ personality prototype as a driver of customer engagement: Does relationship duration matter?," Journal of Retailing and Consumer Services, Elsevier, vol. 53(C).
    14. Ina Garnefeld & Sabrina Helm & Ann-Kathrin Grötschel, 2020. "May we buy your love? psychological effects of incentives on writing likelihood and valence of online product reviews," Electronic Markets, Springer;IIM University of St. Gallen, vol. 30(4), pages 805-820, December.
    15. Li Yan & Hean Tat Keh & Xiaoyu Wang, 2021. "Powering Sustainable Consumption: The Roles of Green Consumption Values and Power Distance Belief," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 169(3), pages 499-516, March.
    16. Kuang, Di & Ma, Baolong & Wang, Hong, 2022. "The relative impact of advertising and referral reward programs on the post-consumption evaluations in the context of service failure," Journal of Retailing and Consumer Services, Elsevier, vol. 65(C).
    17. Saha, Sajeeb & Ranjan, Kumar Rakesh & Pappu, Ravi & Akhlaghpour, Saeed, 2023. "Corporate giving and its impact on consumer evaluations: A meta-analysis," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 158(C).
    18. Deepa Rohit & Rajesh Panda, 2018. "Cause-Brand Association and Consumer Attitude: A Review," Indian Journal of Commerce and Management Studies, Educational Research Multimedia & Publications,India, vol. 9(1), pages 61-71, January.
    19. Wen, Xiaohan (Hannah) & Kim, Shinhye & Bowen, Melanie, 2023. "Doing good by sharing messages: An investigation of “You Share, We Donate” campaigns and how they can attain viral success," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 156(C).
    20. Lim, Junsang & Beatty, Sharon E., 2011. "Factors affecting couples' decisions to jointly shop," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 64(7), pages 774-781, July.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:gam:jsusta:v:13:y:2021:i:13:p:7177-:d:582678. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: MDPI Indexing Manager (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://www.mdpi.com .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.