The Impact of Past Deeds on Prosocial Behaviors: The Case of Charitable Giving: An Abstract

Author(s):  
Etienne Denis ◽  
Claude Pecheux
2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Alexander Genevsky ◽  
Brian Knutson ◽  
Carolyn Yoon

AbstractFundraising organizations face difficult decisions regarding how to construct solicitations for donations. While these aid requests often include multiple salient features, their interactive effect on donation behavior and the psychological mechanisms that underlie their combined influence remain unclear. In six studies utilizing online and laboratory samples, as well as hypothetical and real incentives, we examine whether and how request framing moderates the impact of positive and negative images on charitable giving. Across all studies and in a single-paper meta-analysis, the influence of affective images on giving was moderated by the valence of request framing, such that affectively matched features most effectively elicited donations. Further, donors’ experienced positive affect could account for this matching effect – even in cases of matched negative features. These findings suggest that organizations can increase the effectiveness of aid requests by focusing on the affective match of request features. This work integrates previously discrepant findings on the impact of affect on donations and holds both conceptual implications for how affect can influence giving and practical implications for organizations seeking to design optimally effective requests for aid.


2016 ◽  
Vol 7 (2) ◽  
pp. 9-12
Author(s):  
Ryo Oda ◽  
Ryota Ichihashi

Previous field experiments have found that artificial surveillance cues facilitated prosocial behaviors such as charitable donations and littering. Several previous field studies found that the artificial surveillance cue effect was stronger when few individuals were in the vicinity; however, others reported that the effect was stronger in large groups of people. Here, we report the results of a field study examining the effect of an artificial surveillance cue (stylized eyes) on charitable giving. Three collection boxes were placed in different locations around an izakaya (a Japanese-style tavern) for 84 days. The amount donated was counted each experimental day, and the izakaya staff provided the number of patrons who visited each day. We found that the effect of the stylized eyes was more salient when fewer patrons were in the izakaya. Our findings suggest that the effect of the artificial surveillance cue is similar to that of “real” cues and that the effect on charitable giving may weaken when people habituate to being watched by “real” eyes. 


2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Huiqing Huang ◽  
Yuzhuo Zhang ◽  
Jieyu Lv ◽  
Tong Jiang ◽  
Xi Zhang ◽  
...  

Abstract. Although offering gifts to encourage prosocial behaviors is a popular daily strategy, its underlying mechanism remains unknown. This study investigated the effect of thank-you gifts on charitable giving in laypeople’s beliefs ( N = 1,293). Study 1 showed that laypeople believe thank-you gifts increase charitable giving. Study 2 found that laypeople believe thank-you gifts increase both charitable giving and positive emotions of donors. Study 3 further showed that laypeople’s anticipation of donors’ emotional gain might play a mediating role in the effect of thank-you gifts on charitable giving. Study S1 found that participants’ donated amounts in the benefit-to-others thank-you gifts condition exceeded other conditions on actual donation behavior. These findings emphasize the emotional value of the gift in laypeople’s beliefs.


2019 ◽  
Vol 11 (5) ◽  
pp. 1491 ◽  
Author(s):  
Keling Wang ◽  
Yaqiong Miao ◽  
Ching-Hui Su ◽  
Ming-Hsiang Chen ◽  
Zhongjun Wu ◽  
...  

We examined whether corporate charitable giving (CCG) in China benefits corporate performance (CP) in terms of sales growth (SG), return on asset (ROA), return on equity (ROE), and Tobin’s Q (TQ), and revealed several findings. First, testing shows variation in the impact of CCG on CP. Whereas the ratio of corporate charitable giving (RCCG) to total sales revenue does not significantly enhance SG, ROA, and ROE, it is positively related to TQ. Second, the positive relationship between RCCG and TQ originates from non-state-owned firms (NSOFs) rather than state-owned firms (SOFs). Third, Chinese firms may use CCG as traditional philanthropy to enhance long-term performance instead of strategically using it to generate short-term performance. Lastly, an inverted U-shaped relationship exists between RCCG and TQ, especially for NSOFs.


2020 ◽  
Vol 55 (1) ◽  
pp. 271-296
Author(s):  
Marc Mazodier ◽  
Francois Anthony Carrillat ◽  
Claire Sherman ◽  
Carolin Plewa

Purpose Charities depend on giving behaviors of organizations to fulfil their purpose, whereas corporations seek to improve their image in return. Accordingly, the purpose of this research is to investigate optimal donation thresholds for organizations to enhance their corporate social responsibility (CSR) image. Design/methodology/approach Experiment 1 (N = 482) tests whether CSR image improves with donation amount up to the point at which it becomes excessive (H1) and whether this point differs between firms in a positive versus negative economic situation (H2). Experiment 2 (N = 432) examines the role of consumer attribution of firm motives through mediation of these effects (H3), while also exploring consumer donation expectations by testing an “undefined” amount. Experiment 3 (N = 400) validates the role of attributions through the moderating effect of motives. Findings The experiments demonstrate an optimal interval between inferior and superior donation amounts that maximize the impact of corporate giving on CSR image through the attribution of society-serving motives. Furthermore, the economic situation of the company alters these thresholds – higher donations are required to positively influence the CSR image when the company is in a favorable situation. Research limitations/implications This research answers a long-term call to provide more reliable tools on which to base charitable giving decisions. It also identifies perceived donating motives as the psychological process underlying consumers’ response to donation magnitudes. Practical implications The authors determine psychological donation thresholds by examining amounts perceived as insignificant in comparison to excessive and provide managers with an easy-to-implement method to determine optimal donation amounts from their target market. Originality/value By examining charitable giving at the micro-level, this research provides practical advice to companies on how to determine, ahead of time, how much to donate and what exactly to communicate in which economic situation.


2021 ◽  
Vol 12 ◽  
Author(s):  
Raquel Oliveira ◽  
Aíssa Baldé ◽  
Marta Madeira ◽  
Teresa Ribeiro ◽  
Patrícia Arriaga

The ongoing coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic has quickly swept the globe leaving a devastating trail of lost human lives and leading to a public health and economic crisis. With this in mind, prosociality has been heralded as a potential important factor to overcome the negative effects of the pandemic. As such, in this study, we examined the effectiveness of a brief reflexive writing exercise about recent experiences of gratitude on individuals’ intentions to engage in prosocial behaviors using a sample of 253 participants living in Portugal and 280 participants living in Brazil. Participants were randomly assigned to either a condition in which they were asked to write about recent experiences of gratitude or a control group in which they were asked to write about daily tasks. We predicted that the gratitude intervention would increase state gratitude and, consequently, increase positive affect and empathic concern, and decrease negative affect, leading to increased intentions to engage in prosocial behaviors during the COVID-19 pandemic. A moderated serial–parallel mediation analysis, in which we controlled for gender, age, and level of religiosity, indicated that our manipulation led to increases in state gratitude, which in turn increased positive emotions and empathic concern, leading to increased prosocial intentions in both countries. A content analysis of participants’ responses in the gratitude group revealed that relationships with others and health and well-being were the central themes of their gratitude experiences during the COVID-19 global pandemic.


2019 ◽  
pp. 1-32
Author(s):  
ALEXIA GAUDEUL ◽  
MAGDALENA C. KACZMAREK

AbstractDefaults may not directly get people to behave as intended, such as saving more, eating healthy food or donating to charity. Rather, defaults often only put people on the ‘right’ path, such as joining a savings plan, buying healthy food or pledging money to charity. This an issue because getting more people to take those first steps does not necessarily motivate them to go on with further steps. Indeed, the default does little to help them understand the benefit of doing so. This can greatly reduce the impact of the default. We test this idea in a charitable giving experiment where people first can promise to give to charity (‘pledge’) and then can go on to donate. We find that participants pledge more often when that is the default, but those who pledge in that case are less likely to take further steps to donate than those who pledge when pledging is against the default. We interpret this in terms of motivation and transaction costs. Some people pledge only to avoid the psychological costs of going against the default. Those people are closest to indifference between donating or not and are therefore less motivated to go on to donate. We also show that the intrinsic motivation of pledgers is lower when pledging is the default and that making pledges the default does not change attitudes to charities.


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