<p>Customer referral programs are a cornerstone of growth strategies, predicated on the assumption that loyal customers are universally effective advocates. However, research on the boundary conditions under which loyalty translates into referral behavior remains limited. In collaboration with a major Chinese e-commerce firm, we conducted a field experiment using Cox proportional hazards models. Our findings reveal that social value-framing content acts as a critical boundary condition: the interaction between customer loyalty and social value-framing content negatively impacts referral intention. Specifically, the referral advantage associated with loyal users is attenuated under social value-framing content, a phenomenon we term “loyal but not virtuous”. Supplemental experiments reveal that this effect is mediated by self-enhancement motivation. For high-loyalty users, their established identity as brand advocates creates a potential image threat when sharing social-value content, which suppresses their drive for self-enhancement. This study enriches the literature on customer loyalty and referral programs and provides practical recommendations for firms on aligning loyalty with content strategies.</p>