Online social referral programs (SRPs) have emerged as a crucial marketing strategy in social e-commerce, and information presentation format significantly influences referral effectiveness. Online threshold social referral programs (TSRPs) were recently practiced by companies like Pinduoduo, which require the established consumer (referrer) to complete multiple tasks (e.g., inviting a specified number of new consumers to register or place an order) before rewards are cashed and provide no rewards in case of incompletion. This study explored the mechanisms by which information presentation format in TSRPs affect consumers’ referral intentions. Based on the heuristic-systematic model, two information presentation formats were identified: reward- and task-oriented. Four experiments were conducted to examine their impact on consumers’ referral intention and the mechanism. Reward-oriented information presentation was found to enhance consumer’s referral intention, while social distance between referrer and referee moderated the referrer’s referral intentions. By anchoring the consumer’s attention on the benefits of the referral task, the reward-oriented presentation improved their referral intention, aligning with intuitive analysis in heuristic information processing. In contrast, task-oriented presentation, which draws attention to the cost associated with the referral task, did not significantly decrease referral intention, in accordance with rational analysis in systematic information processing. As social distance increases, consumers were more inclined to consider benefits for others in their decision-making processes, with their attention increasingly focused on the benefits gained from the referral task, which strengthens the enhancement effect of reward-oriented information presentation on referral intentions. This research offers valuable insights for improving information presentation formats to enhance the effectiveness of online social referral programs.