Educational Donors’ Expectations and Their Outcomes in the COVID-19 Era: The Moderating Role of Motivation during Sequential Evaluation Phases

Abstract

Donors’ prior expectations of reinforcing satisfaction and favorable attitudes are predicted using Oliver’s satisfaction cycle model. This study aims to investigate how prior expectations drive sustainable donation behavior by demonstrating the moderating role of educational donors’ motivation to predict further participation behavior. Using three time-lag intervals, our findings show that the relationship between prior expectations (T1) and attitudes toward educational donation (T3) is positive on a longitudinal basis. While this relationship is negatively moderated by the role of donor motivation, the relationship between the expectation of satisfaction and attitudes toward educational donations is not significantly moderated by motivation. In particular, favorable attitudes toward educational donation increase rapidly when prior expectations are high, and motivation is low. This study contributes to the literature by providing evidence for the theoretical mechanisms of the satisfaction cycle model and practical insights for managers during educational donations events.