“Me” vs. “We”: Value-Oriented Fee Increase Justification Messaging in the Context of Resource-Intensive Public Recreation Facilities

Tax-based appropriations for local public leisure services have become increasingly scarce. To increase cost recovery and generate additional revenue, many park and recreation agencies have added new fees or elevated existing fees. However, fee increases may arouse resistance among users. To alleviate user resistance, fee justification messaging providing additional information about potential beneficial outcomes may be utilized. This study sought to test two different types of benefit-based fee justification messages (community-benefit vs. user-benefit messages) in the context of an aquatic center and examine how the effects of messages vary with individual value orientations. Results indicate that both types of benefit-based justification messaging improved users’ fairness perceptions, but had a marginal impact on purchase intentions. The effectiveness of messaging was found to be dependent on value orientation as individuals with a high self-enhancement or a high self-transcendent value orientation were more responsive to fee messaging.