Donate to charities or get a refund of canceled event tickets?

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.