We introduce the idea of beneficiary framing to the promotion response literature. Two large-scale field experiments (total N = 73,010) in the context of print-at-home coupons show that framing a savings message as affecting a beneficiary (i.e., “save for X”) increases coupon printing and redemptions. This beneficiary framing effect is equivalent to an incremental $0.05 (3.4%) of coupon value. We report eight additional studies (total N = 3,052) to investigate the mechanism, replicability, and role of salience. We find evidence supporting a mental accounting explanation: participants with beneficiary-related budget categories rate beneficiary-framed coupons as more account-relevant and more valuable than non-beneficiary-framed coupons. The experiments further suggest that the beneficiary framing effect (i) holds across multiple common budgeting domains, (ii) cannot be fully explained by an affect transfer mechanism, (iii) is not solely attributable to the visual salience of the beneficiary framing treatment, and (iv) exhibits a boundary condition in which beneficiary framing may reduce promotion response when the recipient does not have a relevant beneficiary. Overall, the results suggest a low-cost approach that some marketers can use to increase promotion uptake.

我们将受益人框架的概念引入到促销响应文献中。 在家庭打印优惠券的背景下进行的两项大规模实地实验（总 N = 73,010）表明，将储蓄信息设计为影响受益人（即“为 X 储蓄”）会增加优惠券的打印和兑换。这种受益人框架效应相当于优惠券价值增加 0.05 美元 (3.4%)。我们报告了另外八项研究（总共N = 3,052) 来研究显着性的机制、可复制性和作用。我们找到了支持心理账户解释的证据：与受益人相关的预算类别的参与者认为受益人框架的优惠券比非受益人框架的优惠券更与账户相关且更有价值。实验进一步表明，受益人框架效应 (i) 跨越多个共同预算领域，(ii) 不能完全用影响转移机制来解释，(iii) 不仅仅归因于受益人框架处理的视觉显着性，以及(iv) 表现出边界条件，当收件人没有相关受益人时，受益人框架可能会降低促销响应。总的来说，结果表明一些营销人员可以使用一种低成本的方法来增加促销活动。