Negative Effect of Roundup Requests on Repurchase Intentions

Abstract

Requesting customers to “round up” the total for their purchases to the next whole dollar and donating the difference has been a recent trend among some companies. A recent study argues that a roundup donation request reduces the perceived pain of donating, thus making it more effective as compared with a flat donation request; however, the present research argues that a roundup donation request can also have potential negative returns. This article demonstrates across two experimental studies, that consumers report lower repurchase intentions when approached with a roundup (vs. flat) donation request, due to an increased anticipated negative affect associated with refusing such a request. Moreover, such effects only occur among consumers with utilitarian (but not hedonic) purchase motives. The findings of this research extend prior research in this area by highlighting the potential negative consequences of roundup donation requests.