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How Recipients’ Feedback Affects Intention to Remain: An Integrated Perspective on Task Design and Feedback

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  01 January 2026

Hongling Yang ,
Jianquan Wang  and
Zhenbin Ding Open the ORCID record for Zhenbin Ding [Opens in a new window]
Hongling Yang*
Affiliation:
School of Management, Northwestern Polytechnical University, Xi’an 710129, China
Jianquan Wang*
Affiliation:
School of Management, Northwestern Polytechnical University, Xi’an 710129, China
Zhenbin Ding*
Affiliation:
School of Management, Northwestern Polytechnical University, Xi’an 710129, China
*
yhlng@nwpu.edu.cn
wangjianquan3332@163.com
zbding@mail.nwpu.edu.cn
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Abstract

Existing literature has focused on the influence of organizational settings on volunteers’ intention to remain but failed to explore the effects of external feedback. From an integrated perspective of task design and feedback, this study, based on the affective events theory, explored the influencing mechanism of illegitimate tasks, recipients’ feedback, and emotional exhaustion on volunteers’ intention to remain. This study collected 649 cases from poverty alleviation volunteers. Results showed that illegitimate tasks have had a negative impact on their intention to remain with emotional exhaustion taking a certain mediating effect. It has also been noted that the moderating effect of recipients’ feedback is significant, which can alleviate the negative impact of emotional exhaustion on the intention to remain. This study indicated the positive effects of positive and negative feedback, enriched the research on the influencing factors of volunteers’ intention to remain, and provided suggestions for organizations to retain volunteers from an integrated perspective of task design and feedback.

Keywords

FeedbackIllegitimate tasksEmotional exhaustionIntention to remainAffective events theory

Information

Type
Research Paper
Information
Voluntas: International Journal of Voluntary and Nonprofit Organizations , Volume 35 , Issue 1 , February 2024 , pp. 189 - 201
Copyright
Copyright © International Society for Third-Sector Research 2023

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