Reciprocity anxiety: Individual differences in feeling discomfort in reciprocity situations

Providing gifts, assistance, or favors to benefit consumers may pressure the recipients to adhere to the norm of reciprocity, which has the potential to increase customer patronage and satisfaction. However, these practices can fail to yield desired results if customers feel uncomfortable about receiving things that need to be reciprocated. People differ in the degree to which they feel anxious in a situation that requires them to reciprocate or when they anticipate such a situation. This research introduces the construct of reciprocity anxiety to capture this individual difference and distinguish it from other variables. We develop an 11-item scale to measure two components of reciprocity anxiety and find that reciprocity anxiety can predict (1) consumers' avoidance behavior toward businesses that may obligate them to reciprocate; (2) consumers' eagerness to repay a benefit provided by businesses; as well as (3) consumers' intentions to make future visits to businesses that employ reciprocity relationship-building tactics.