On the effectiveness of gifts to initiate business relations in the circular economy

Friedrich, Kathrin; Essl, Andrea (2022). On the effectiveness of gifts to initiate business relations in the circular economy. Die Unternehmung, 76(3), pp. 315-337. Nomos 10.5771/0042-059X-2022-3-315

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In a natural field experiment, we examine whether business gifts are an effective tool to initiate new business relations in the circular economy. We sent letters to encourage restaurants to join the innovative deposit scheme for reusable takeaway tableware of a sustainable Swiss startup company. For treated restaurants, these letters contained a business gift. We implemented four gift treatments by manipulating along two dimensions. First, we varied whether gift-giving is unconditional or conditional on starting a business relation. Second, we alternated between chocolate and cash as a gift. We find no significant causal effect of business gifts on the acquisition of new restaurants. In addition, we find any differences neither between unconditional and conditional gifts nor between chocolate and cash gifts in terms of participation in the reusable system. Interestingly, however, the findings from an exploratory statistical analysis suggest that unconditional gifts attracted more attention and are better remembered than conditional gifts.

Item Type:	Journal Article (Original Article)
Division/Institute:	03 Faculty of Business, Economics and Social Sciences > Department of Business Management > Institute of Organization and Human Resource Management > Organisation 03 Faculty of Business, Economics and Social Sciences > Department of Business Management > Institute of Organization and Human Resource Management
UniBE Contributor:	Friedrich, Kathrin Anna, Essl, Andrea
Subjects:	600 Technology > 650 Management & public relations 300 Social sciences, sociology & anthropology > 330 Economics
ISSN:	0042-059X
Publisher:	Nomos
Language:	German
Submitter:	Andrea Essl
Date Deposited:	05 May 2023 16:30
Last Modified:	05 May 2023 16:30
Publisher DOI:	10.5771/0042-059X-2022-3-315
Uncontrolled Keywords:	sustainable business, business gifts, gift exchange, field experiment, social preferences, reciprocity
URI:	https://boris.unibe.ch/id/eprint/182352