Credit card reward donation with scarcity messages

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to investigate the effect of reward redemption programs on donation amount, donation percentage and donation intention in the context of a bank credit card.Design/methodology/approachA 2 x 2 x 3 experiment is implemented with 1,070 consumers accessing a national US-based sample with a small compensation. The authors use general linear model to test the proposed hypotheses.FindingsThe findings show the main effects of reward types, limited-time message and value of reward redemptions on the percentage of donations and overall donation intention to charity. The type of reward (cash/points) is found to interact with the limited-time message and with the value of reward redemptions.Originality/valueNo prior studies have addressed the relationship between credit card redemption rewards and scarcity messages in the donation context. The study contributes to the understanding of the effectiveness of credit card redemption rewards with scarcity message in improving a consumer's donation intention.