Title:
Prosocial Consumption and Experiential Marketing in Marine Conservation: Utility Modeling and Willingness to Pay for "Adopt-a-Coral" Services

Authors:
Dinh The Hung, Do Gia Khanh, Viet Nam

Abstract:

The traditional marine conservation model, which relies on purely altruistic donations, faces severe financial sustainability challenges due to the volatility of grant funding. This study examines "Adopt-a-Coral" services through the lenses of prosocial consumption and experiential marketing, framing participation in conservation as a utility-generating consumption choice rather than a mere charitable act. The paper constructs a theoretical framework and mathematical model of consumer utility (U_it), integrating Psychological Ownership (PO), Emotional Rewards (ER), Ecological Value (E), and Personalized Experiential Value (X), alongside Service Price (P_it) and Past Engagement (A_it). The research employs an advanced quantitative mixed design: a Scenario-based Experiment to test the causal impact of personalized experiences on the formation of Psychological Ownership, and a Choice Experiment combined with Partial Least Squares Structural Equation Modeling (PLS-SEM) to estimate utility parameters, measure Willingness to Pay (WTP), and test the mediating role of Emotional Rewards on long-term Customer Retention (CR). The findings contribute to Consumer Behavior theory and Environmental Economics by decoding the psychological "black box" of donors, while offering vital managerial implications for conservation organizations and social enterprises to design self-sustaining, subscription-based conservation packages.

DOI: https://doi.org/10.51505/IJEBMR.2026.11003