Would you like to donate your reward points today? Mental accounting and checkout charity

Checkout charity is the solicitation of charitable donations from consumers during the checkout process via a cashier or computer automated system. Although checkout charity has become ubiquitous in the retail industry, consumers often felt pressured to donate and wished not to be asked to donate. How can we encourage consumers to donate when they encounter online checkout charity and make feel good about it? This study tried to address this question by identifying how online shoppers’ attitudes and donation behavior could be influenced by donation payment method based on mental accounting. The result confirms that requesting a donation in reward points would enhance consumers’ attitude toward the retailer and their intention to donate to an online checkout charity. This study provides important managerial implications for companies, charities, and practitioners regarding how they can improve their online checkout charity practice to increase donations and sales and garner the benefits of enhanced corporate image by aligning themselves with charities.