{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,4,6]],"date-time":"2026-04-06T23:00:03Z","timestamp":1775516403082,"version":"3.50.1"},"reference-count":38,"publisher":"Emerald","issue":"3","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2019,6,3]],"date-time":"2019-06-03T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1559520000000},"content-version":"tdm","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/www.emerald.com\/insight\/site-policies"}],"content-domain":{"domain":[],"crossmark-restriction":false},"short-container-title":["ITP"],"published-print":{"date-parts":[[2019,6,3]]},"abstract":"<jats:sec><jats:title content-type=\"abstract-subheading\">Purpose<\/jats:title><jats:p>With the rise of customer engagement in online products and services innovation, enterprises are seeking effective referral reward program (RRP) to encourage customers\u2019 follow-up electronic-referral (e-referral) behaviors. Therefore, how to stimulate more customers to participate in the RRP is very important to enterprises. However, little empirical work has systemically investigated the impact of RRP on customers\u2019 follow-up e-referral, as well as the moderating effects of customers\u2019 characteristics. To fill those research gaps, the purpose of this paper is to explore the effects of RRP (particularly, reward amount and reward type) on customers\u2019 follow-up e-referral, and the role of creative self-efficacy.<\/jats:p><\/jats:sec><jats:sec><jats:title content-type=\"abstract-subheading\">Design\/methodology\/approach<\/jats:title><jats:p>Based on the self-perception theory and the context of online customer innovation, this paper establishes a theoretical model and uses an experiment with 160 participants to test the hypotheses on the role of reward (amount and type) and the moderating effect of creative self-efficacy.<\/jats:p><\/jats:sec><jats:sec><jats:title content-type=\"abstract-subheading\">Findings<\/jats:title><jats:p>The results of the experiment suggest that both reward amount and reward type in RRP positively impact customers\u2019 follow-up e-referral. Furthermore, customers\u2019 creative self-efficacy moderates the relationship between rewards and customers\u2019 follow-up e-referral. Customers with low creative self-efficacy, reward amount significantly stimulate their follow-up e-referral, but such effect is insignificant when customers\u2019 creative self-efficacy is high. In terms of reward type, gift reward has more positive effect on customers\u2019 follow-up e-referral when they have high (rather than low) creative self-efficacy, but cash reward has more positive effect on those with low (rather than high) creative self-efficacy.<\/jats:p><\/jats:sec><jats:sec><jats:title content-type=\"abstract-subheading\">Originality\/value<\/jats:title><jats:p>First, based on the self-perception theory, the study clarifies the inconsistent relationship between reward and customers\u2019 e-referral and contributes to related research. Second, the study broadens the existing research perspective by introducing creative self-efficacy, which shows interesting and powerful moderating effect but has been ignored in previous studies. Third, the study provides valuable advice on how enterprises design an effective RRP to enhance customers\u2019 follow-up e-referral.<\/jats:p><\/jats:sec>","DOI":"10.1108\/itp-06-2017-0188","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2018,7,16]],"date-time":"2018-07-16T03:47:48Z","timestamp":1531712868000},"page":"559-578","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":23,"title":["Impact of referral reward program on innovative customers\u2019 follow-up e-referral"],"prefix":"10.1108","volume":"32","author":[{"given":"Depeng","family":"Zhang","sequence":"first","affiliation":[],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Fuli","family":"Zhang","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Si","family":"Liu","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Helen S.","family":"Du","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]}],"member":"140","reference":[{"issue":"5","key":"key2020092308331884600_ref001","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"531","DOI":"10.1007\/s11747-012-0323-4","article-title":"The effects of social- and self-motives on the intentions to share positive and negative word of mouth","volume":"41","year":"2013","journal-title":"Journal of the Academy of Marketing Science"},{"issue":"4","key":"key2020092308331884600_ref002","first-page":"139","article-title":"Self-efficacy: toward a unifying theory of behavioral change","volume":"1","year":"1977","journal-title":"Advances in Behaviour Research & Therapy"},{"issue":"2","key":"key2020092308331884600_ref003","first-page":"99","article-title":"The product and timing effects of eWOM in viral marketing","volume":"21","year":"2016","journal-title":"International Journal of Business"},{"issue":"1","key":"key2020092308331884600_ref004","first-page":"126","article-title":"The impact of perceived e-Wom on purchase intention: the mediating role of corporate image","volume":"7","year":"2015","journal-title":"International Journal of Marketing Studies"},{"key":"key2020092308331884600_ref005","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"1","DOI":"10.1016\/S0065-2601(08)60024-6","article-title":"Self-perception theory","volume":"6","year":"1972","journal-title":"Advances in Experimental Social Psychology"},{"issue":"8","key":"key2020092308331884600_ref035","first-page":"192","article-title":"What makes online content viral?","volume":"49","year":"2012","journal-title":"Journal of Marketing Research"},{"issue":"2","key":"key2020092308331884600_ref006","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"368","DOI":"10.1257\/jel.50.2.368","article-title":"Economic incentives and social preferences: substitutes or complements?","volume":"50","year":"2012","journal-title":"Journal of Economic Literature"},{"issue":"3","key":"key2020092308331884600_ref007","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"426","DOI":"10.1177\/0146167284103011","article-title":"Sensitivity of intrinsic motivation to reward procedure instructions","volume":"10","year":"1984","journal-title":"Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin"},{"issue":"7","key":"key2020092308331884600_ref008","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"883","DOI":"10.1177\/0095399713519093","article-title":"Linking transformational leadership to self-efficacy extra-role behaviors, and turnover intentions in public agencies: the mediating role of goal clarity","volume":"48","year":"2016","journal-title":"Administration & Society"},{"issue":"4","key":"key2020092308331884600_ref036","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"405","DOI":"10.1207\/s15324834basp1304_2","article-title":"Effects of delayed rewards and task interest on intrinsic motivation","volume":"13","year":"1992","journal-title":"Basic and Applied Social Psychology"},{"issue":"1","key":"key2020092308331884600_ref009","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"125","DOI":"10.1287\/mnsc.1090.1077","article-title":"The \u2018I designed it myself\u2019 effect in mass customization","volume":"56","year":"2010","journal-title":"Management Science"},{"key":"key2020092308331884600_ref010","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","unstructured":"Georgi, D., Wirtz, J., Xiao, P. and Tang, C. 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