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Reciprocity anxiety: Individual differences in feeling discomfort in reciprocity situations

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  • Xiong, Xiling
  • Guo, Siyuan
  • Gu, Li
  • Huang, Rong
  • Zhou, Xinyue

Abstract

Providing gifts, assistance, or favors to benefit consumers may pressure the recipients to adhere to the norm of reciprocity, which has the potential to increase customer patronage and satisfaction. However, these practices can fail to yield desired results if customers feel uncomfortable about receiving things that need to be reciprocated. People differ in the degree to which they feel anxious in a situation that requires them to reciprocate or when they anticipate such a situation. This research introduces the construct of reciprocity anxiety to capture this individual difference and distinguish it from other variables. We develop an 11-item scale to measure two components of reciprocity anxiety and find that reciprocity anxiety can predict (1) consumers' avoidance behavior toward businesses that may obligate them to reciprocate; (2) consumers' eagerness to repay a benefit provided by businesses; as well as (3) consumers’ intentions to make future visits to businesses that employ reciprocity relationship-building tactics.

Suggested Citation

  • Xiong, Xiling & Guo, Siyuan & Gu, Li & Huang, Rong & Zhou, Xinyue, 2018. "Reciprocity anxiety: Individual differences in feeling discomfort in reciprocity situations," Journal of Economic Psychology, Elsevier, vol. 67(C), pages 149-161.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:joepsy:v:67:y:2018:i:c:p:149-161
    DOI: 10.1016/j.joep.2018.05.007
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    Cited by:

    1. Chao, Matthew & Chapman, Jonathan, 2020. "Saving face through preference signaling and obligation avoidance," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 176(C), pages 569-581.
    2. M. Leszczynska & D. Baltag, 2024. "“Can I have it non-personalised?” An Empirical Investigation of Consumer Willingness to Share Data for Personalized Services and Ads," Journal of Consumer Policy, Springer, vol. 47(3), pages 345-372, September.
    3. Salazar, Miguel & Joel Shaw, Daniel & Czekóová, Kristína & Staněk, Rostislav & Brázdil, Milan, 2022. "The role of generalised reciprocity and reciprocal tendencies in the emergence of cooperative group norms," Journal of Economic Psychology, Elsevier, vol. 90(C).
    4. Yongbo Sun & Jiayuan Xing, 2022. "The Impact of Gamification Motivation on Green Consumption Behavior—An Empirical Study Based on Ant Forest," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 15(1), pages 1-17, December.
    5. Xiaoyu Wang & Xiaotong (Janey) Zheng & Shuming Zhao, 2022. "Repaying the Debt: An Examination of the Relationship between Perceived Organizational Support and Unethical Pro-organizational Behavior by Low Performers," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 179(3), pages 697-709, September.

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Reciprocity; Anxiety; Consumer psychology; Measurement; Individual difference;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • M31 - Business Administration and Business Economics; Marketing; Accounting; Personnel Economics - - Marketing and Advertising - - - Marketing

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