Companies frequently request their customers to donate to a charitable organization at some point during the purchasing process. Especially in an online environment, companies can easily control at which stage in the customer journey consumers are asked to give to charity. The aim of this paper is to investigate how the sequence of purchase and donation requests in the customer journey influences the willingness to donate to an NGO and the willingness to pay for the company’s product. As theoretical frame, we use two related concepts of moral self-regulation stemming from behavioral economics, namely moral licensing and moral cleansing. Based on these two cognitive biases, we assume that the sequence of donation and purchase options has an influence on the money individuals are willing to spend on the product and are willing to donate to charity. Prior research on moral licensing and moral cleansing often relies on outcomes from rather artificial study designs. Studies often utilize moral/immoral decision tasks, which consumers barely ever encounter in real life settings. In line with recent calls for replicating or validating established cognitive biases in settings that are more realistic, we apply both moral licensing and moral cleansing in a setting, which closely resembles real-life situations. Hence, our study contributes to the advancement of behavioral economics by offering outcomes with a higher degree of ecological validity. Participants (N=121) were asked to indicate the maximum amount of money they were willing to donate (WTD) for an environmental organization and the maximum amount of money they were willing to pay (WTP) for a newly launched smartphone. In condition A, participants were first presented with the donation task (moral licensing); in condition B, participants were first presented with the purchase task (moral cleansing). Our results indicate that the moral cleansing effect is present. On average, participants who first indicate their WTP are subsequently more prone to donating money to an NGO. We could not observe a moral licensing effect at large.

One specific manifestation of CSR is the solicitation of donations in collaboration with an NGO. Especially in an online environment, companies can easily control if they present donation options to consumers either before or after the actual purchase moment of their products. The aim of this paper is to investigate how the sequence of purchase and donation requests in the customer journey influences the willingness to donate to a charitable cause and the potential revenues for the seller. As theoretical frame, we use two related concepts of moral self-regulation, namely moral licensing and moral cleansing. We assume that consumers spend a higher sum on a luxury product after donating to an NGO (moral licensing) and vice versa donate a higher sum to charity after purchasing a self-indulgent product (moral cleansing). While we do not consider luxury products as morally questionable per se, prior research has shown that consumers repeatedly feel bad after purchasing a luxury item. Our results indicate that the moral cleansing effect is present in our experiment. On average, participants who first indicate their WTP for a luxury product are subsequently more prone to donating money to an NGO. We could not observe a moral licensing effect at large. Both conditions lead to comparable mean WTP measures, hence to similar total potential revenues. In general, our results indicate that both parties profit the most, if donation options are available after purchase decisions.

Moral licensing is a non-conscious effect that provides a moral boost in the self-concept, which increases the preference for a relative immoral action by dampening the negative self-attributions associated with such behavior. Applied to a marketing context, moral licensing explains why a purchase of a green product (a positive moral act) is likely to increase the likelihood of subsequently purchasing a luxury good (a negative moral act). This study addresses the question how big this effect typically is and which factors influence its size by conducting a Meta-Analysis and a Meta-Regression. Based on a random effects model, the point estimate for the generalized effect size Cohen’s d is 0.365 (SE=0.047; p=0.000). Results of a Meta-Regression indicate, for the first time, that the three moderators cultural background, type of decision and type of comparison explain a substantial amount of the total variation of moral licensing effect’s size.