Donate to charities or get a refund of canceled event tickets?
研究发现，当退款处理时间较长（一个月 vs. 一周）时，人们更倾向于将退款捐赠给慈善机构，不确定性感受是背后的心理机制，且该效应在不确定性规避高、促进焦点低的人群中更显著。
Event cancellations occur due to various uncontrollable factors, such as weather and pandemics. Some event companies leverage this opportunity and request people to donate part of the to-be-claimed refund. Charitable donations to preserve local cultures and the environment contribute to sustainable and responsible tourism. This research investigates the impact of refund processing time on donation intention in event cancelations. We find that when refund processing time is one month (vs. one week), individuals are more likely to donate and that feelings of uncertainty function as the psychological mechanism. Furthermore, the effect of refund processing time on donation intention only holds among people with high uncertainty avoidance and low promotion focus. Our findings help cause-related marketers understand how to solicit donations in the situation of canceled events, depending on individuals’ uncertainty avoidance and promotion focus.