This paper departs from the standard profit-maximizing model of firm behavior by assuming that firms are motivated in part by personal animosity–or respect–towards their competitors. A reciprocal firm responds to unkind behavior of rivals with unkind actions (negative reciprocity), while at the same time, it responds to kind behavior of rivals with kind actions (positive reciprocity). We find t...

This study investigates the manner in which corporate philanthropy affects consumer patronage toward a brand. In so doing, we propose reciprocity as a key mechanism, which manifests the effect of corporate philanthropy on patronage behavior, and examine how vicarious licensing and strategic fit would mitigate the relationship between reciprocity and patronage behavior. The results indicate that...

In this paper we report experimental results that relate to the reciprocity experiment of Berg, Dickhaut, and McCabe (1995). We consider direct reciprocity, which means to respond in kind to another person, and indirect reciprocity, understood as rewarding someone else. Another variation concerns the information about the multiplier of donations where we compare the benchmark case with a common...