Researchers at ESADE in Spain and Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam in The Netherlands analyzed the effects of promotional favors, in which a discount is offered in exchange for the customer doing a task, such as completing a marketing questionnaire, posting a review, or making a referral. The set of studies found that customers will often take advantage of the offer, and they might consider the discount more valuable because it was earned. But they’ll end up spending less than with an unconditional discount.
In one of the studies, conducted at supermarkets, shoppers offered a 5% discount for completing a questionnaire about choosing a supermarket spent between about 8% and 17% less on their grocery purchases than did those offered an unconditional discount. The researchers checked that this decrease was not attributable to the people being rushed because they had to complete the questionnaire during the shopping trip.
The researchers attribute the decrease to reactance, which kicks in when people sense that their freedom of choice is threatened. Customers feel they’d be foolish to pass up the opportunity to save money, but don’t like the accompanying feeling that they’re being pressured to behave according to dictates from the seller. In the studies, people offered the promotional favors tended to develop more anger and frustration than did those offered an unconditional discount.
Because promotional favors can benefit your organization, it’s best not to eliminate them from consideration. To avoid the negative aspects, dissolve the reactance. You might accomplish this by pointing out the options for each task. “You can write a review which is positive, negative, or mixed.” “We encourage you to carefully choose from among the people you know who you’d like to refer to us.”
Another approach to easing the reactance is to offer a range of ways to earn a discount. This month, it’s a promotional favor. Next month, it will be a gambled discount, such as a scratch-off ticket. And every month, it’s the loyalty program reward of a percentage off an upcoming purchase.
A third approach is to present the request as a way to help you. For customers who want your enterprise to succeed, this can be seen as an opportunity, not an obligation.
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Slant Referral Rewards Toward the Referred 
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