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The Impact of Self-Service Technology and the Presence of Others on Cause-Related Marketing Programs in Restaurants a
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Lydia Hanks , Nathan D. Line & Anna S. Mattila a
The Dedman School of Hospitality, Florida State University
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The Pennsylvania State University Accepted author version posted online: 19 May 2015.
Click for updates To cite this article: Lydia Hanks, Nathan D. Line & Anna S. Mattila (2015): The Impact of Self-Service Technology and the Presence of Others on Cause-Related Marketing Programs in Restaurants, Journal of Hospitality Marketing & Management, DOI: 10.1080/19368623.2015.1046536 To link to this article: http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/19368623.2015.1046536
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Running Head: Self-Service Technology and the Presence of Others
Lydia Hanks
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Nathan D. Line The Dedman School of Hospitality, Florida State University
The Pennsylvania State University
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Anna S. Mattila
Address correspondence to Lydia Hanks, The Dedman School of Hospitality, Florida State University, 288 Champions Way, UCB 4114, 2855 Apalachee Pkwy., Tallahassee, FL 32306, USA. E-mail:
[email protected]
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Please confirm this correspondence address is correct and complete as listed Abstract
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Self-service technology (SST) is rapidly gaining traction in the restaurant industry, yet the
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impact on consumer behavior remains to be seen. This study lends a theoretical perspective to the growing issue of SST and its effect on consumer donation behavior. From the lens of costly signaling theory, we examine how the use of SST impacts guest responses to cause-related
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The Dedman School of Hospitality, Florida State University
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The Impact of Self-Service Technology and the Presence of Others on Cause-Related Marketing Programs in Restaurants
marketing (CRM) initiatives. Employing an experimental design, we found that customers who were solicited in the presence of others were more likely to donate than those solicited via SST. These results suggest that when the participation decision is conspicuous, donating is a way to raise social status in front of others. To the best of the authors’ knowledge, no extant research
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has examined the joint impact of SST and matching donations on the customer’s participation in CRM programs. Our findings suggest that SST adoption may have unintended consequences for corporations.
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Keywords: costly signaling theory, corporate social responsibility, cause-related marketing, self-
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Introduction
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Self-service technology is rapidly gaining traction in the restaurant industry and has the potential to revolutionize nearly every aspect of the dining experience (Beldona, Buchanan, & Miller, 2014; Kimes, 2008). Innovations continue to develop that allow guests to peruse menus, make food selections, customize their orders, request refills, and/or interact with the company in
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general using either touch-screen kiosks, tableside tablets, or mobile phones. In early 2014, Chili’s and Applebee’s, two leading U.S. casual dining chains, introduced tablet-based menus
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with touch-screen capabilities for ordering and paying the check (Quast, 2014). Later that year,
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the CEO of Panera Bread, a fast-casual dining chain, announced that the company was undertaking a major overhaul of its ordering system by installing self-service, touch-screen stations where customers could order and pay for their food (Strom, 2014).
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service technology, restaurants
The extent to which this type of self-service technology will ultimately impact consumer experiences, attitudes, and behavior remains to be seen (Dabholkar & Spaid, 2012). Such
technology has the potential to positively impact the customer experience through shorter waiting times, shorter lines, and greater customer control (Dixon, Kimes, & Verma, 2009;
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Kincaid & Baloglu, 2006; Kokkinou & Cranage, 2013; Kotler, Bowen, & Makens, 2014). Additionally, preliminary evidence suggests that tableside touch-screens result in higher check averages and increased marginal profits for the restaurant (Quast, 2014). Some suggest, however,
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that the use of technology in the hospitality industry may have significant effects on consumer attitudes and behaviors that are not yet fully understood (Beatson, Lee, & Coote, 2007; Law,
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(Giebelhausen, Robinson, Sirianni, & Brady, 2014) found that under some circumstances, the use of technology in the service delivery process can have adverse effects on customer
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evaluations of the service encounter, as it interferes with the employee-customer rapport that consumers have come to expect from such encounters.
Given the ambiguity surrounding the use of self-service technology (SST), especially within the
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context of foodservice, the purpose of this study is to lend a theoretical perspective to the growing issue of SST and its effect on consumer behavior. From the lens of costly signaling
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theory (Bird & Smith, 2005), we examine how the use of tableside SST impacts guest donation behavior in an increasingly important domain of hospitality research, cause-related marketing.
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Responses to cause-related marketing (CRM) initiatives, in which the company offers to match customer donations to a charitable organization is an under-researched topic in hospitality research in general (see Line & Runyan, 2012; Yoo, Lee, & Bai, 2011), and the move by many
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Leung, & Au, 2013; Reinders, Dabholkar, & Frambach, 2008). For example, in a recent study,
hospitality companies toward technology-based initiatives highlights the need for an integrated approach to this phenomenon. To the best of the authors’ knowledge, no extant research has
examined the impact of SST adoption on the customer’s level of participation in CRM programs, in spite of the fact that customer participation and engagement in such programs is a key
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component of many companies’ corporate image initiatives (Lii & Lee, 2012). To address this gap in the literature, this research is designed to investigate the likelihood that a customer will donate to a cause-related marketing initiative when the donation request is made privately, via
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self-service technology, versus when it is made publicly/verbally, in the presence of others. We approach this phenomenon from the perspective of costly signaling theory, which
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when the behavior is visible by others (Bird & Smith, 2005). Based on this framework, we propose that while the use of technology may introduce certain efficiencies to the service
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process, the use of self-service devices to implement a cause-related marketing initiative may actually decrease participation in the program. In this study, we develop and empirically test this position on a sample of restaurant consumers in the United States. The findings are discussed with
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principal
implications
for
both
theory
and
practice.
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along
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Literature Review Corporate
Social
Responsibility
and
Cause-Related
Marketing
Campaigns
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suggests that individuals are more likely to exhibit prosocial behavior at some personal cost
Corporate social responsibility (CSR) programs have become commonplace in the current marketing environment. Contemporary CSR initiatives take on a diverse set of objectives, such
as free trade promotion, animal welfare, environmental protection, working conditions, general
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philanthropy, and many others (Sen & Bhattacharya, 2001; Vlachos, Tsamakos, Vrechopoulos, & Avramidis, 2009). Typically, such programs are implemented to demonstrate to customers and other stakeholders that the company cares about social causes and is acting as a responsible
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member of society. In an era of financial scandals, banks that are “too big to fail,” and ubiquitous product recalls, it is important for organizations to promote and maintain a favorable image in
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customers know that it shares their values (Bhattacharya & Sen, 2003; Swimberghe & Wooldridge, 2014)).
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Because consumers use CSR programs as a basis for both the cognitive and affective evaluations of a company (Bhattacharya, Rao, & Glynn, 1995; Verplanken & Herabadi, 2001), effective CSR programs can enhance a company’s reputation in the marketplace, leading customers to
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perceive the company as a “good citizen” (Lii & Lee, 2012). As customers engage with a company via its CSR platforms, positive attitudes toward the company are formed. These
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positive attitudes result in increased customer loyalty, higher revenues, positive word of mouth, willingness to pay a premium, and resilience to negative information about the company (Du,
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Bhattacharya, & Sen, 2007; Liu, Wong, Rongwei, & Tseng, 2014). For employees, CSR can result in higher levels of organizational commitment (Wong & Hong, 2014).
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the marketplace. Engaging in socially responsible activities is one way for a company to let
Corporate social responsibility programs can take many forms, including direct donation to philanthropy, employee volunteerism, responsible and fair trade procurement, and environmental stewardship (Ellen, Webb, & Mohr, 2006). In this study, however, we are specifically interested in a type of CSR campaign known as cause-related marketing (CRM), in which the company ties
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their CSR efforts to a particular cause, typically a non-profit organization with which the company is affiliated (Barone, Norman, & Miyazaki, 2007; Kotler & Levy, 1969). Cause-related marketing has been defined as “the process of formulating and implementing marketing activities
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that are characterized by an offer from the firm to contribute a specified amount to a designated cause when customers engage in revenue-providing exchanges that satisfy organizational and
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twofold: to provide financial assistance to the target organization, and to create a positive attitude toward the company by acting as a benevolent and concerned social entity (Gupta & Pirsch,
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2006). In order to achieve these goals, however, it is important that the customer actively engage with the campaign. A key element of CRM is that it requires some action on the part of the customer. Thus, if the customer declines to make the donation, meet the spending threshold, or engage in the activity required to trigger the response by the company, then neither objective is
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met. That is, without some action on behalf of the customer, the target cause will not receive the
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assistance and the company will not reap the full benefits of the intended customer goodwill. In a CRM program, the company may agree to donate a percentage of each transaction to the
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cause, make in-kind donations to a cause, make a monetary donation to the cause if a certain spending threshold is met, or match some portion of donations made by customers. In this study, we examine consumer donation response to a matching donation campaign, in which the
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individual objectives” (Varadarajan & Menon, 1988). The purpose of cause-related marketing is
company offers to match charitable donations made by customers. Such promotions are popular
for restaurants, particularly when there is a good fit between the company and the cause (Barone et al., 2007). For example, when individuals donate to No Kid Hungry, a food bank for children, their donations are matched by corporate restaurant sponsors such as Arby’s, Denny’s, Joe’s
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Crab Shack, and Corner Bakery Café (ShareOurStrength, 2014). Similarly, Panda Express, a quick-service chain serving Asian cuisine, offered to match customer donations after Typhoon Haiyan hit Southeast Asia in 2013 (DeVilla, 2013).
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Such matching donation CRM campaigns serve not only to assist the needy and portray the
corporation in a positive light, but also to actively engage the customer with the company, as the
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donate means that the charity will not receive a donation from either the customer or the company sponsor. On the other hand, if the customer does elect to participate, he triggers the
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company’s donation as well, thereby becoming responsible for the charity receiving twice as much money. Matching donations campaigns have been demonstrated to be effective for a number of reasons. When a company matches a customer donation to a cause, it demonstrates its
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commitment to the cause, leading customers to perceive an “other interested” rather than “self interested” motive on the part of the company (Drumwright, 1996). Additionally, matching
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donations are perceived by consumers as more effortful than a simple monetary donation (Cui et al., 2003). Mohr and Bitner (1995) note that when consumers perceive effort on the part of the
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corporation, they have a more positive attitude toward both the company and the cause, thereby increasing the likelihood of participation on the part of the customer. We therefore predict that when companies offer to match a customer donation, customers will be more likely to participate
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customer must make a decision to participate in the campaign. For the customer, declining to
in the CRM campaign:
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Hypothesis 1: Restaurant customers are more likely to participate in a cause-related marketing initiative when there is a matching donation made by the sponsoring organization than when
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such a matching donation is absent.
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Costly Signaling Theory
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individual but is beneficial to others or to society as a whole (Twenge, Baumeister, DeWall,
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Ciarocco, & Bartels, 2007). Although such behavior is not fully understood, prior research suggests that individuals may engage in prosocial behavior as a way to signal belonging or gain acceptance to an aspirational group. Performing acts that help others allows an individual to build a prosocial reputation, indicating that he/she is trustworthy (Barclay, 2006; Semmann,
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Krambeck, & Milinski, 2005). Thus, although the acting party may incur some cost to engage in prosocial behavior, such acts may also result in long-term benefits both for the actor and for the
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group to which he aspires (Twenge et al., 2007).
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In addition to facilitating membership in aspirational groups, prosocial behavior can also help individuals gain status within a reference group to which they already belong (Griskevicius, Tybur, & Van den Bergh, 2010). In support of this perspective, a study by Henrich & Gil-White
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Prosocial behavior can be defined as any behavior that has no direct benefit to the acting
(2001) found that self-sacrifice for the benefit of others led to higher levels of status within a group. This phenomenon can be attributed to a framework from the behavioral ecology literature known as costly signaling. Costly signaling theory (Bird & Smith, 2005) suggests that an altruistic act communicates a willingness and ability to incur costs for the sake of others in the
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group. For example, choosing a more expensive free-trade coffee over a less expensive, traditionally harvested coffee signals to others that the individual is able and willing to make a financial sacrifice for the good of society. According to this theory, individuals will incur the
will enhance their status among those who witness the act.
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cost of such behavior (economic or otherwise) to the extent that they believe that such a signal
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willing to make consumption sacrifices in order to raise their status in an invoked reference group. In their study, subjects that had been primed to focus on their status within the invoked
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group were more willing to choose less luxurious, but more environmentally friendly, products in a conspicuous consumption situation. Their results suggest that consumers use green product choices to signal to others that they are willing to sacrifice for the group in an effort to achieve
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higher status. Consistent with costly signaling theory, we postulate that individuals participate in cause-related marketing in the presence of other people in order to signal their willingness and
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ability to make sacrifices (i.e., incur costs) for the greater good of society. Furthermore, we propose that this behavior is at least partly attributable to a desire to gain status in the eyes of
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others (Mattila & Hanks, 2012), especially when the company offers to match the donation. In a typical restaurant CRM scenario, the server would inform the customer of a charity donation
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In accordance with costly signaling theory, Griskevicius et al. (2010) found that people were
program and ask whether he/she would like to donate, usually at the point of presenting the check or collecting payment. Thus, the customer’s response is witnessed by the server, as well as by anyone dining with the customer. For the customer, agreeing to donate to the cause represents an opportunity to raise his social status by engaging in conspicuous prosocial behavior in front of
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the server and/or others at the table. According to costly signaling theory, this motivation to achieve status in the eyes of others should increase the likelihood of participation in the campaign. However, if the customer is paying via tableside tablet, and the donation request is
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made at the time of payment, neither the server nor the others at the table will be aware of whether or not the focal customer chooses to participate. As there is no opportunity to increase
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to result in customer participation. Thus, we hypothesize:
Hypothesis 2: The likelihood of participation in a matching-based cause-related marketing
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initiative is moderated by the extent to which the decision to participate is visible to others. Specifically, the likelihood to participate will be lower when the solicitation is made via
Methods
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tableside tablet than when it is made in the presence of others.
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Experiment design and participants To test our hypotheses, we employed a 2 (matching donation: present or absent) x 3 (others present: tablet only, server only, server and friend) experimental design. A total 305 participants
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status or send a costly signal, we postulate that CRM solicitations made via tablet are less likely
were recruited from Amazon Mechanical Turk, an online commercial panel. Respondents volunteered to complete the survey in exchange for a 50 cent account credit. Participation was limited to respondents who self-identified as being over the age of 18 who reside in the United States. Of the participants, 27% had a household income of $60,000 or more, approximately 45%
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had some college education, 80% self-identified as Caucasian – Non-Hispanic, and 58% were male. Upon agreeing to participate, respondents were randomly assigned to one of the six experimental
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conditions and presented with a scenario (see Appendix A) in which they were told that they were out to dinner either alone or with a friend. After the meal, the customer was asked to make
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the donation, while the other half were not. Depending on the condition, the donation was solicited either by the server or by the tableside tablet on which the customer was paying his or
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her check. After reading the scenario, subjects completed a survey measuring the dependent variable (likelihood of participation) and several relevant covariates.
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Measures
The dependent variable, likelihood to participate in the donation campaign, was measured using
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two items, “I would donate money to this cause” and “I would support the restaurant in this charity by donating money today” (r=.87). Attitude toward charitable organizations was
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measured as a covariate using items from Webb, Green, & Brashear (2000) (for example: “My image of charitable organizations is positive” and “Charity organizations perform a useful
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a donation to a local food bank. Half of the subjects were told that the restaurant would match
function for society” α=.87). We also controlled for interdependent self-construal, as prior research has suggested that an individual’s self-construal can have a significant impact on prosocial and philanthropic behavior (Duclos & Barasch, 2014; Winterich & Barone, 2011). Self-construal was measured using 12 items from Singelis (1994) (e.g., “It is important for me to maintain harmony within my group” and “I will sacrifice my self-interest for the benefit of the
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group I am in.” Scenario realism was measured with two items, “This situation is very likely to be real” and “This situation could happen, or has happened, to me or someone I know” (α = .84).
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Results The results from an ANCOVA table reveal a significant main effect for matching donation
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more likely to donate when the restaurant was making a matching donation. Additionally, this
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effect was qualified by a two-way interaction between matching donation and others present (F=2.95, p=.05), lending support to H2. The impact of the matching donation was moderated by the presence of others. This interaction can be seen in Figure 1. Interdependent self-construal and attitude toward charitable organizations were the only significant covariates in the model.
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**Please insert Figure 1 here
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**Please insert Table 1 here
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An examination of the cell means shows that in the absence of matching donation, likelihood to participate was uniformly low (below 3.5) regardless of the presence of others. Conversely, the presence of others had a positive impact on likelihood to participate when the restaurant engaged
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(F=3.77, p=.05) on likelihood to participate, in support of H1 (see Table 1). Customers were
in matching donations. Specifically, the results from a planned contrast indicate that likelihood to participate is significantly lower when the donation request involved a tablet (M=3.09) rather than a human being (M=4.27 and M=4.30 for the waiter and friend conditions, respectively, F=4.72, p
