How reward uncertainty influences subsequent donations: The role of mental accounting

Abstract It is common in the marketplace for merchants to reward consumers whose spending reaches a certain level. This study investigates how reward uncertainty affects consumers’ intentions to donate money to charity after they receive a reward. Across one field experiment and three laboratory experiments, this study demonstrates that consumers are more likely to donate after receiving uncertain rewards than certain ones, because they treat uncertain rewards as financial gains, separate from their payment accounts; certain rewards are expected during consumption, and thus perceived as payment deductions. Therefore, uncertain rewards (vs. certain rewards) induce lower (vs. higher) psychological pain from donating money, which leads to higher (vs. lower) donation intentions. These effects do not apply to people with a calculative mindset (i.e., those who calculated their true expenses before being asked to donate).