The effect of reward type on consumer recommendation intention in the C2C car-sharing context in China: the moderating role of scarcity cues

With the vigorous development of car-sharing practices and the rise of various platforms, competition among different car-sharing platforms is becoming increasingly fierce. Many platforms are using referral reward plans to leverage customer power to expand their consumer base. However, little knowledge exists about the effectiveness of different types of referral reward strategies commonly implemented by car-sharing platforms. Through two formal experiments with 652 accessed consumers who are experienced in C2C car-sharing services in China, we find that compared to indirect monetary reward (e.g., coupon), direct monetary reward (e.g., cash) is more effective in enhancing consumers' recommendation intention. Adding scarcity cues of rewards helps promote recommendation intention and has a significantly stronger power in strengthening the positive effect of direct monetary reward on recommendation intention than that of indirect monetary reward. Our findings theoretically contribute to the research on sharing platform incentivised WOM, scarcity effect, and referral reward plans. We also bring insights for car-sharing platform operators to select effective referral reward plans.