“Buy‐One‐Get‐One‐Free” Versus “Share‐With‐a‐Friend” Deals: A Construal‐Level Approach to Promotion Framing

ABSTRACT This research compares “buy‐one‐get‐one‐free” (BOGO) coupons with economically equivalent “share‐with‐a‐friend” (SWAF) coupons, which essentially involve the same deal as BOGO but prompt consumers to share the free item with someone else. We theorize that these two promotion framings are associated with distinct construal levels (lower vs. higher). Consequently, consumer responses, such as retail outlet preferences, deal evaluations, and coupon redemption likelihood, will be differentially affected depending on the coupon presented. Across five pre‐registered studies, including a field study, the findings show that consumers prefer using a BOGO (SWAF) coupon at a high‐feasibility/low‐desirability (low‐feasibility/high‐desirability) retail outlet. They also have higher deal evaluations and an increased likelihood of coupon redemption when they receive a BOGO coupon for a mass merchandiser (vs. a specialty store) and for offline (vs. online) shopping. The opposite pattern occurs when consumers receive an SWAF coupon. We identify processing fluency as the mechanism underlying these effects. This research contributes to the promotion framing literature by examining the nature of BOGO versus SWAF coupons and their impact on promotion effectiveness. The findings provide guidance for retailers on deploying these two types of coupons, emphasizing the importance of considering the type of retail outlet.