Next, we predict the impact of reward size on the recommendation-loyalty link, using two competing theoretical frameworks. We begin with reinforcement theory and then outline an alternative explanation based on self perception theory.
Positive reinforcement perspective. Studies of reinforcement in attitude formation and change in psychological and social psychological literature generally support the notion that attitudes can be strengthened through extrinsic and intrinsic rewards (e.g., Blau 1967; Kelley and Thibaut 1978). In most cases, liking for an attitude object, such as a group or task, increases with reward size (Leventhal 1964), and rewards positively affect attitudes toward the group or task (Aronson 2004). The notion of using rewards for positive reinforcement is also prominent in marketing thought, as exemplified by customer loyalty programs (Yi and Jeon 2003). In loyalty programs, obtaining rewards can generate customers' positive feelings toward the firm implementing the program (Tietje 2002) such that participants in loyalty programs show higher levels of attitudinal loyalty than do nonparticipants (Gomez, Arranz, and Cillan 2006). The perceived size of the reward also increases these positive attitudes (Yi and Jeon 2003).
Unlike loyalty programs, in CRPs the rewarded task is positive advocacy of the firm, which leads to a purchase by a new customer. Positive advocacy, as an activity, typically makes the communicator's attitude more extreme (Higgins and Rholes 1978). As East, Romaniuk and Lomax (2011) assert, conveying positive word of mouth may reinforce the purchase propensity of the communicator because he or she becomes more convinced about the merits of the recommended product or service, thus supporting the argument that participation in a CRP positively influences the recommender's attitudinal loyalty. A reinforcement perspective would also suggest that referral rewards paid in the context of CRPs may bolster the rewarded recommender's attitudinal loyalty toward the firm that paid the reward and that this effect should increase with the size of the reward (e.g., Leventhal 1964), leading us to hypothesize the following: