Egotistic or altruistic? An experimental investigation of referral rewards in social e-commerce from the perspective of relationship norms

In the contemporary arena of e-commerce strategies, companies are increasingly drawn to the use of referral program incentives to prompt existing customers to recruit new ones. However, the existing knowledge falls short of unraveling the intricate dynamics governing the sharing of diverse rewards in company-consumer and consumer-consumer relationships. This study bridges this gap by unveiling a nuanced connection between the effectiveness of referral rewards and the interplay of both the recipient’s propensity to refer during the referral stage and the recipient’s inclination to accept during the acceptance stage. Through three scenario-based experiments, we explore the influence of the consumer-company relationship on individuals’ willingness to engage in referrals during the referral stage, identifying two pivotal psychological mechanisms: economic and social motivation. Our findings underscore those selfish incentives, primarily benefiting the sender, outperform prosocial incentives, particularly within exchange norms, yet reveal the reputational advantages associated with prosocial referral rewards in communal norms. Shifting the focus to the acceptance stage, we scrutinize the relationship between the referrer and the recipient, discovering that sender-benefiting rewards may undermine a recipient’s acceptance due to negative motivational inferences, yet this effect can be moderated by relationship norms. Our findings offer a comprehensive understanding of the multifaceted role played by referral rewards in shaping consumer behavior within social e-commerce, providing valuable guidance for companies seeking to optimize their referral strategies by aligning rewards with relationship norms to enhance overall effectiveness.