Adjusting the Warm-Glow Thermostat: How Incentivizing Participation in Voluntary Green Programs Moderates Their Impact on Service Satisfaction

In Study 1, the authors find that people are more satisfied with a service experience when they choose to participate in the provider's voluntary green program (e.g., recycling)—an effect mediated by the "warm glow" of participation. The downside, however, is that this same mechanism...

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Bibliographic Details
Published inJournal of marketing Vol. 80; no. 4; pp. 56 - 71
Main Authors Giebelhausen, Michael, Chun, HaeEun Helen, Cronin, J. Joseph, Hult, G. Tomas M.
Format Journal Article
LanguageEnglish
Published Los Angeles, CA American Marketing Association 01.07.2016
SAGE Publications
Subjects
Charitable giving
Customer satisfaction
Discriminants
Ecological sustainability
Economic benefits
Environmental management
Environmental programs
Green marketing
Hotels
Prosocial behavior
warm glow
social norms
services marketing
sustainability
green marketing
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Summary:In Study 1, the authors find that people are more satisfied with a service experience when they choose to participate in the provider's voluntary green program (e.g., recycling)—an effect mediated by the "warm glow" of participation. The downside, however, is that this same mechanism decreases satisfaction among people who choose not to participate. In Study 2, analysis of data from the J.D. Power Guest Satisfaction Index suggests that incentivizing the program (i.e., compensating the program participants) paradoxically increases satisfaction for those who do not participate but decreases satisfaction among those who do. Studies 3 and 4 explore how manipulating incentive characteristics might enable managers to maximize satisfaction for both groups. Study 3 indicates that, compared with no incentive, an "other-benefiting" incentive increases warm glow and satisfaction for green program participants but decreases them among nonparticipants. Study 4, however, suggests that mixed incentive bundles (i.e., providing both self-benefiting and other-benefiting options) maximize warm glow and satisfaction for both groups—the ideal outcome for managers.
ISSN:0022-2429
1547-7185
DOI:10.1509/jm.14.0497