Don't put me on the spot: The role of perceived intrusiveness in public donation solicitations

Abstract

AbstractThough public donation solicitations (e.g., asking consumers to donate during checkout) are becoming ubiquitous, little is known about whether and how consumers' feelings elicited by these solicitations influence their donation behavior. Three consequential choice studies using incentive‐compatible experimental designs examine the multifaceted nature of public solicitation effectiveness. Study 1 shows that public (vs. private) solicitations increase not only the donation rate but also donors' propensity to deceive. Exploring the psychological mechanisms underlying these conflicting consequences, Study 2 demonstrates that social image concerns for not donating and perceived intrusiveness from being put on the spot counteract each other by simultaneously driving and impairing public solicitation effectiveness. Disentangling this interplay of mechanisms, Study 3 highlights the importance of the public solicitation form by uncovering a serial mediation effect. Specifically, nonverbal (vs. verbal) public solicitations increase the donation rate by reducing social image concerns and, in turn, perceived intrusiveness. Study 3 also reveals that verbal solicitations can have detrimental downstream consequences on consumers' attitudes and loyalty intentions toward both the soliciting store and the charity beneficiary. Uncovering perceived intrusiveness as a critical factor influencing donation behavior, this study thus shows that soliciting donations publicly can be a double‐edged sword, giving rise to important implications for both theory and practice.