Understanding the impact of recipient identification and discount structure on social coupon sharing: The role of altruism and market mavenism

Abstract

This study investigates consumers' sharing of social coupons, a novel and understudied marketing strategy in which a consumer receives a coupon set where one coupon is meant to be kept and redeemed, while the other is meant to be shared with a secondary recipient. Linking the literature on marketing promotions, social influence, sharing motivations, and consumer characteristics, we examine how identification of a specific secondary recipient (e.g., family member vs. co-worker) and coupon discount structure (e.g., equal discount for both the sharer and the secondary recipient vs. a structure favoring one of the parties) affect social coupon sharing. Four experimental studies demonstrate that consumers are more likely to share social coupons when socially close to the identified recipient and when discount structure benefits the secondary recipient due to enhanced feelings of altruism. These effects are particularly impactful for individuals low in market mavenism, whereas individuals high in market mavenism share regardless. These findings enhance theories on behavioral pricing, social influence, and sharing motivations. Results indicate that current practices in the marketplace may not all be strategically sound and that practitioners should carefully consider how identification and discount structure are employed to maximize social coupon sharing.

Current Status of Market Mavens Research: A Literature Review

“…According to Zhang & Lee [43], studies comparing market mavenism and opinion leadership have only been undertaken in western markets, such as those of Germany and the United States. In addition, some researchers [9,108,109] have claimed that the datasets collected may contain distinctive cultural and normative specifications that may affect the outcomes. In the future, researchers may replicate the studies and evaluate the findings across a variety of situations, which would be beneficial.…”

“…Furthermore, market maven's influence diffusion processes [107]. Moreover, individuals' mavenism traits are a strong predictor of market recommendations; individuals with higher levels of mavenism are more inclined to go out of their way to recommend a product to others, even if there is no immediate personal gain [9,108,109]. According to previous research, higher degrees of mavenism traits are associated with more frequent product recommendations [110].…”

“…However, there is not much literature on mavenism in the cybermarket [3,4], and the body of literature remains open to further research. For instance, there is a growing body of literature on market mavens [4][5][6][7][8][9], while the majority of researchers have analyzed market mavens' search behavior without taking cross-store search behavior into account and thus underestimated responses to price promotions [10]. Furthermore, despite marketers' keen interest in the role and impact of word of mouth, limited research has been conducted on the role of market mavens in word-of-mouth communication, and little research has been conducted on the various aspects of e-mavens' propensity [7].…”

“…Market mavens are eager to do business, and they enjoy buying and sharing market information [10,12]. They have an intrinsic motivation to help others, even without expecting a reward from others [13], and they want to maximize social coupon sharing [9]. Moreover, market Mavens in cyberspace (e-mavens) have also been recognized as people who are dedicated to the Internet, can search for online information, and respond to information requests from others.…”

The mere possession effect of shareable digital coupons: The mediating role of anticipated self‐enhancement

“…Our research thus provides a preceding perspective to examine the effectiveness of shareable digital coupons and suggests that the positive effect of shareable coupons may occur at a very early stage before the actual coupon sharing per se. Hanson et al (2021) focused on the motivation of sharing shareable coupons and how shareable coupon structure affects sharing intention. They found that consumers are more likely to share coupons when socially close to the identified recipient and when the discount structure benefits the secondary recipient due to enhanced feelings of altruism.…”