Donation Intent Research Articles

The student as stakeholder: how the altruism of university social responsibility (USR) campaigns impacts student relationships

PurposeThe purpose of this study is to expand corporate social responsibility research in communication management by understanding the dynamics of university social responsibility (USR). The COVID-19 pandemic and social justice protests of 2020 provide a context to study communication about universities’ dual roles as economic engines and social activists. Messaging from a university about its social responsibility goals can impact student perceptions.Design/methodology/approachA survey was conducted of 493 students enrolled at a major university in 2020. Students were asked about two real campaigns at their university, one about healthy behavior and one about racial justice on campus.FindingsAltruism positively predicted reputation, trust and donation intent, while distrust was inversely predicted. Message credibility and believability were mediators of these relationships, but only source credibility mediated altruism for the social justice campaign. For universities, this study demonstrates the importance of communicating social responsibility messages with students. As an important and overlooked stakeholder group in USR, students may respond positively to these messages, which have implications for their potential willingness to donate after graduation.Originality/valueThis study contributes to the literature by merging variables from public relations and marketing with theory development in higher education management to provide a new perspective on ethical organizational communication.

Randomized intervention to assess the effectiveness of an educational video on organ donation intent among Hispanics in the New York metropolitan area.

The Hispanic community has a high demand for organ donation but a shortage of donors. Studies investigating factors that could promote or hinder organ donation have examined emotional video interventions. Factors acting as barriers to organ donation registration have been classified as: (1) Bodily integrity; (2) medical mistrust; (3) "ick"-feelings of disgust towards organ donation; and (4) "jinx"-fear that registration may result in one dying due to premeditated plans. We predict that by providing necessary information and education about the donation process via a short video, individuals will be more willing to register as organ donors. To determine perceptions and attitudes regarding barriers and facilitators to organ donation intention among Hispanic residents in the New York metro politan area. This study was approved by the Institutional Review Board at Northwell Health. The approval reference number is No. 19-0009 (as presented in Supplementary material). Eligible participants included Hispanic New York City (NYC) residents, 18 years of age and above, who were recruited voluntarily through Cloud Research and participated in a larger randomized survey study of NYC residents. The survey an 85-item Redcap survey measured participant demographics, attitudes, and knowledge of organ donation as well as the intention to register as an organ donor. Attention checks were implemented throughout the survey, and responses were excluded for those who did fail. Participants were randomly assigned two-between subject conditions: To view a short video on organ donation and then proceed to complete the survey (i.e., video first) and view the same video at the end of the survey (video last). No intra-group activities were conducted. This study utilized an evidenced-based emotive educational intervention (video) which was previously utilized and was shown to increase organ donation registration rates at the Ohio Department of Motor Vehicles. Results were analyzed using Jamovi statistical software. Three hundred sixty-five Hispanic individuals were included in the analysis. Once consent was obtained and participants entered the survey (the survey sample is presented in Supplementary material), participants were asked to report on demographic variables and their general impression of organ donation after death. The video depicted stories regarding organ donation after death from various viewpoints, including from the loved ones of a deceased person who died waiting for a transplant; from the loved ones of a deceased person whose organs were donated upon death; and, from those who were currently waiting for a transplant. Using a binomial logistic regression, the analysis provides information about the relationship between the effects of an emotive video and the intention to donate among Hispanic participants who were not already registered as donors. The willingness to go back and register was found to be significantly more probable for those who watched the emotive video before being asked about their organ donation opinions (odds ratio: 2.05, 95% confidence interval: 1.06-3.97). Motivations for participation in organ donation were also captured with many stating the importance of messages coming from "people like me" and a message that highlights "the welfare of those in need". Overall, the findings suggest that using an emotive video that addresses organ donation barriers to prompt organ donation intentions can be effective among the Hispanic populous. Future studies should explore using targeted messaging that resonates with specific cultural groups, highlighting the welfare of others. This study suggests that an emotive educational intervention is likely to be effective in improving organ donation registration intent among the Hispanic population residing in NYC.

A Randomized Intervention to Assess the Effectiveness of an Educational Video on Organ Donation Intent.

The primary objective of this study was to evaluate the effectiveness of an emotive educational video on organ donation intent in New York City. The secondary study objective was to determine if the educational video affected various factors associated with organ donation. New York City residents were recruited via a crowdsourcing online platform and randomized to one of two groups, with exposure to viewing (1) an educational video before completing an 81 question survey on organ donation ("video first" condition) or (2) after completing the survey ("video last" condition). Logistic regression analysis compared organ donation intent (i.e., "how likely are you to become an organ donor") between the two groups. Additional variables related to organ donation (e.g., religious beliefs, financial incentives) were also evaluated between the two groups. Analyses were adjusted for organ donation registration status. In total, 1905 participants were randomized. We observed a statistically significant increased odds of organ donation intent among those randomized to the video first condition compared with those randomized to the video last condition (odds ratio [OR], 1.70; 95% confidence interval [95% CI], 1.29 to 2.24). Differences regarding both educational effect on nondonors and racial differences such that there was a decreased odds of organ donation intent among those who identified as Black compared with those who were White (OR, 0.66; 95% CI, 0.47 to 0.92). Black participants were also more likely to report bodily integrity and differential treatment by doctors compared with White participants. Our findings suggest that future interventions to increase organ donation registration among ethnically diverse populations could be effective if sufficient information is presented before decision making to addresses potential concerns.

Predicting the Intention to Donate Blood among Blood Donors Using a Decision Tree Algorithm

The blood donation process is essential for health systems. Therefore, the ability to predict donor flow has become relevant for hospitals. Although it is possible to predict this behaviour intention from donor questionnaires, the need to reduce social contact in pandemic settings leads to decreasing the extension of these surveys with the minimum loss of predictivity. In this context, this study aims to predict the intention to give blood again, among donors, based on a limited number of attributes. This research uses data science and learning concepts based on symmetry in a particular classification to predict blood donation intent. We carried out a face-to-face survey of Chilean donors based on the Theory of Planned Behaviour. These data, including control variables, were analysed using the decision tree technique. The results indicate that it is possible to predict the intention to donate blood again with an accuracy of 84.17% and minimal variables. The added scientific value of this article is to propose a more simplified way of measuring a multi-determined social phenomenon, such as the intention to donate blood again and the application of the decision tree technique to achieve this simplification, thereby contributing to the field of data science.

COVID-19 Charity Advertising: Identifiable Victim Message Framing, Self-Construal, and Donation Intent

We investigate the interactive effect of donors’ self-construal and frame of a persuasive message (emphasizing statistical or identifiable victims affected by COVID-19) on donation intent. Three studies featuring 1,104 participants document a positive effect of the identifiable victim (vs. statistical victims) frame on donation intent, but only for interdependent respondents and not for independent ones (study 1). This conditional positive effect of the identifiable victim frame is due to interdependents’ heightened holistic thinking style (studies 2 and 3). Findings have public significance for addressing COVID-related economic challenges. The paper concludes with theoretical contributions, practical implications, and ideas for future research.

Ego Depletion and Charitable Support: The Moderating Role of Self-Benefit and Other-Benefit Charitable Appeals

This research investigates the interaction between ego depletion (a state of reduced self-regulatory resources) and different types of charitable message appeals upon subsequent charitable support. Three experiments compare the time donation intent and actual monetary donations of depleted (vs. non-depleted) individuals who have been exposed to either a self-benefit message, highlighting the gains to be accrued to donors themselves, or an other-benefit message which focuses on the welfare of beneficiaries. The results show that when people are depleted, self-benefit messages are more effective than other-benefit messages in generating charitable support. When people are not depleted, the opposite pattern is observed. It appears that generosity among depleted people is self-seeking. As a processing mechanism, we show that depleted individuals perceive self-benefit messages as more appealing than the other-benefit messages. This research demonstrates that charities can maximize donations by advertising other-benefit messages in the morning and then self-benefit messages in the evening, given that depletion occurs naturally over the course of the day.

The effect of political ideology and message frame on donation intent during the COVID-19 pandemic

We investigate COVID-19 related consumers’ donation intent predicated on their political ideology and the message frame - one emphasising the statistical number of affected victims, and the other focusing on a specifically identified victim. Across three studies, we find that the impact of the message frame depends on consumers’ political ideology. Politically conservative consumers respond to the identifiable victim (vs. statistical victims) frame more favorably while politically liberal consumers are indifferent across the two frames (Studies 1 and 2). We further find that this conditional positive effect of identifiable victim frame for conservative consumers is mediated by consumers’ state anxiety evoked by the message frame (Study 3). This paper concludes with contributions to theory, implications for practice, and directions for future inquiries.

Attitudes About Brain Donation Among African American Research Participants

Alzheimer’s and related dementias (ADRD) disproportionately affect the African American community. Brain donation, a crucial part of translational research, is less common among African American research participants compared to White research participants at Alzheimer’s Disease Research Centers (ADRCs) across the US. Existing literature suggests three categories of contributory factors for African Americans: concerns and misconceptions about brain research and brain donation; religious beliefs; and the role of the family. Existing knowledge of community interventions is limited. We conducted seven focus groups, stratified by brain donation intent and cognitive status, to capture the perspectives of African American research participants. Qualitative content analysis reveal the following contributory themes: personal connection to memory loss or dementia; altruism; spirituality/religion; historical and current racism in health care and research; trauma and objectification; trust; representation; understanding the purpose and process of brain donation; and fluidity in decision-making. Future research will explore trauma-informed and culturally responsive interventions. Part of a symposium sponsored by the Alzheimer’s Disease Research Interest Group.

The impact of religiously tailored and ethically balanced education on intention for living organ donation among Muslim Americans.

We tested the efficacy of religiously tailored and ethically balanced education upon living kidney organ donation intent among Muslim Americans. Pre-post changes in participant stage of change, preparedness, and likelihood judged efficacy. Among 137 participants, mean stage of change toward donation appeared to improve (0.59; SD±1.07, P<.0001), as did the group's preparedness to make a donation decision (0.55; SD±0.86, P<.0001), and likelihood to donate a kidney (0.39; SD±0.85, P<.0001). Mean change in likelihood to encourage a loved one, a co-worker, or a mosque community member with ESRD to seek a living donor also increased (0.22; SD±0.84, P=.0035, 0.23; SD±0.82, P=.0021, 0.33; SD±0.79, P<.0001 respectively). Multivariate ordered logistic regression models revealed that gains in biomedical knowledge regarding organ donation increased odds for positive change in preparedness (OR=1.20; 95% CI 1.01-1.41, P=.03), while increasing age associated with lower odds of positive change in stage of change (OR=0.98, 95% CI 0.96-0.998, P=.03), and prior registration as an organ donor lowered odds for an increase in likelihood to donate a kidney (OR=0.22; 95% CI 0.08-0.60, P=.003). Our intervention appears to enhance living kidney donation-related intent among Muslim Americans [Clinicaltrials.gov number: NCT04443114].

Baseline testosterone moderates the effect of money exposure on charitable giving intent

AbstractPrior research has conflicting evidence of the effects of money exposure on prosocial behavior, begging the question of potential moderators of the effect. The current research examines the role of baseline testosterone, a correlate of both status and status‐seeking behaviors, in moderating the effect of money exposure on charitable giving intent. An experiment involving 92 male students (Mage = 20.46, standard deviation = 2.28) found baseline testosterone levels moderating the effect of money exposure (b = −.02, t = 3.46, p &lt; .001, 95% confidence interval [CI] [−0.057, −0.002]), with low‐T males exposed to money showing significantly higher charitable donation intent (vs. control; b = 1.21, t = 2.24, p = .028, 95% CI [0.135, 2.293]) and high‐testosterone males exhibiting significantly lower (b = −1.46, t = 2.68, p = .009, 95% CI [−2.545, −0.378]). These findings show instances where money exposure can enhance, rather than inhibit, prosocial intentions that have broad implications for the study and practice of marketing.

The unique moral permissibility of uncontrolled lung donation after circulatory death.

Implementing uncontrolled donation after circulatory determination of death (uDCDD) in the United States could markedly improve supply of donor lungs for patients in need of transplants. Evidence from US pilot programs suggests families support uDCDD, but only if they are asked permission for using invasive organ preservation procedures prior to initiation. However, non-invasive strategies that confine oxygenation to lungs may be applicable to the overwhelming majority of potential uDCDD donors that have airway devices in place as part of standard resuscitation. We propose an ethical framework for lung uDCDD by: (a) initiating post mortem preservation without requiring prior permission to protect the opportunity for donation until an authorized party can be found; (b) using non-invasive strategies that confine oxygenation to lungs; and (c) maintaining strict separation between the healthcare team and the organ preservation team. Attempting uDCDD in this way has great potential to obtain more transplantable lungs while respecting donor autonomy and family wishes, securing public support, and enabling authorized persons to affirm or cease preservation decisions without requiring evidence of prior organ donation intent. It ensures prioritization of life-saving, the opportunity to allow willing donors to donate, and respect for bodily integrity while adhering to current ethical norms.

Cultural barriers to organ donation among Chinese and Korean individuals in the United States: a systematic review.

Asian Americans have the lowest organ donation registration rates in the United States, and the reason for this is incompletely understood. Aiming to understand the reasons for low organ donation registration rate among Asian Americans, more specifically Chinese and Korean Americans, we conducted a systematic search of databases, websites, and gray literature. Altogether, 34 papers were retained after the assessment of relevance and quality. Commonly reported barriers to organ donation registration among Chinese and Koreans in the literature included lack of knowledge about organ donation, distrust of health-care and allocation system, cultural avoidance of discussion of death-related topics, and desire for intact body mainly stemming from the Confucian concept of filial piety. Strong family values coupled with a cultural reluctance to discuss death-related topics among family members appear to underscore the reluctance to organ donation among Chinese and Koreans. Notably, improved knowledge negatively impacted organ donation intent and religion seemed to play a more important role when making decision about organ donation among Koreans, and the distrust of the allocation system is more prominent among Chinese. This information should be used to inform the development of culturally competent organ donation educational materials.

When is the gift given? Organ donation, social representations, and an opportunity to register

AbstractThe gift of life doctrine underpins Australia's approach to organ donation: in legislation, clinical practice, community awareness campaigns, and educational activities. In this paper, we present an approach that situates an understanding of organ donation within a social representation framework as a system of values, ideas, and practices. In cadaveric donation, the final giving‐of‐the‐gift can never be by the donor, leading us to ask where the potential donor's decision to give the gift really lies. We present research from three studies that explored the relationship between what was socially understood about organ donation and the registration of donation intent. Drawing from three socially and culturally diverse populations, we asked people working in a corporate city institution and those attending two football matches in the outer city area to complete a word‐association task and Likert‐scale belief questions about organ donation—followed by an opportunity to register immediately on the Australian Organ Donor Register. Driven by the interdependent themata of life/death and self/other, the gift of life doctrine is inextricably linked with the loss of life emerging as both positive and negative beliefs allowing their relationship to actual registration behaviour to be observed. Our findings suggest that in many instances, the potential donor's genuine desire to give the gift lies in the tension between positive and negative beliefs, manifesting as a consent registration when the positive beliefs about donation prevail and an immediate opportunity to register is available.

Social exclusion and donation behaviour: What conditions motivate the socially excluded to donate?

Previous research has indicated that social exclusion can result in people becoming more focused on themselves than on others, and this may reduce their likelihood of engaging in prosocial behaviour. However, the question of how to promote prosocial behaviour in people who have experienced social exclusion remains. This study comprised two experiments that address this question in the context of donation advertising. Experiment 1 examined participants’ donation intentions after experiencing social exclusion in a ball‐passing game. Experiment 2 followed the same design as Experiment 1, except that real‐life donation behaviour was measured. Consistent with prior findings, our results indicated that those who experienced social exclusion displayed lower donation intentions (Experiment 1) and donated less (Experiment 2) than did those who did not experience social exclusion. However, when those who experienced social exclusion watched advertisements that only portrayed alienated people, they showed as much donation intent as those who did not experience social exclusion (Experiment 1) and ultimately donated more (Experiment 2). These findings indicate that social exclusion may increase an individual's tendency to help others who also are alienated.

The social influence of other consumers on consumers’ reward donations

Loyalty reward programs and corporate social responsibility initiatives are ubiquitous in today’s corporate world, yet little is known how they can be synthesized to benefit companies and those in need. In two studies, we examine how the social influence of other consumers (the presence of other consumers and loyalty status tier) interact with reward type (effort-based vs. surprise) to influence consumers’ propensity to donate their loyalty rewards to charity. Furthermore, we uncover the underlying psychological mechanisms (i.e. instrumentality and self-enhancement) explaining the effects. Our findings indicate that hospitality operators should design loyalty reward programs that involve the presence of other consumers to induce reward donations. However, if the goal is to solicit donations from solo consumers, surprise rewards (vs. effort-based rewards) are more effective. In addition, we show that both types of rewards are effective among high-tier consumers, whereas only surprise rewards lead to high donation intent among low status consumers.

Twenty Years After Enactment of the Organ Transplant Law in Japan: Why Are There Still So Few Deceased Donors?

BackgroundTwenty years have passed since the 1997 enactment of the Organ Transplant Law in Japan, but the number of deceased donors remains extremely low. In this study we examine why deceased donation has continued to remain so infrequent. MethodsThis investigation was a secondary analysis of published data from the Japan Organ Transplant Network, 2016 Fact Book of Organ Transplantation in Japan, and International Registry on Organ Donation and Transplantation. ResultsIn the past 20 years, donation intent declarations, knowledge, and respect for family member's wishes have increased, whereas resistance toward transplantation has decreased. Despite this, the traditional perspective on corpses of gotai manzoku (ie, the soul cannot be put to rest without being physically intact and without defect), the family-centricism, and reward-seeking altruism have not changed much. Living organ transplants have alleviated the organ deficiency somewhat, and the law requiring family consent seems to have contributed to the observed small increase in deceased donors. ConclusionThe number of deceased donors is unlikely to increase suddenly. However, 8 strategies are proposed to increase the number of deceased donors, including: increasing the number of donor procurement coordinators and establishing a training system; increasing the number of organ procurement facilities; creating hub transplant centers and training transplant surgeons; implementing radical reform in public education; reducing workload and improving education of emergency physicians, neurosurgeons, and pediatricians; revisiting the stringent standards of brain-death determination; revisiting the registration process; and considering development of a Japanese version of organ procurement organizations as well as revisions to the Organ Transplant Law. The Japanese government and academic societies must work together to increase the number of deceased donors in Japan.

Preferences for Policy Options for Deceased Organ Donation for Transplantation: A Discrete Choice Experiment.

Despite broad public support for organ donation, there is a chronic shortage of deceased donor organs. We sought to identify community preferences for features of organ donation policies. A discrete choice study was conducted using an online panel of Australian community respondents older than 18 years. Respondents were presented with scenarios comparing a "new" policy to the current policy. Tradeoffs between 8 policy aspects were quantified using mixed logit and latent class models: registration system, extent of donor family involvement, ease of registration, frequency of confirmation of intent, direct payment, and funeral expense reimbursement, priority for donor's family, and formal recognition of donation. There were 2005 respondents (mean, 44.6 years). We found a strong preference for a new policy. Overall, respondents favored a policy that included: some involvement of the donor's family in the final decision, simple registration processes, less frequent reconfirmation of donation intent, direct payment or funeral expense reimbursement, and formal recognition of donation. However, there was significant preference heterogeneity across respondents, with various respondent groups valuing policy mechanisms differently. Respondents who viewed policy change negatively were also those who would be unlikely to be organ donors anyway, because they tended to hold negative views toward organ donation. Our results suggest that the Australian community are open to alternative organ donation policies including changes to: registration systems, family involvement, and financial and nonfinancial mechanisms. Future policy discussions should not be limited by preconceived notions of what is acceptable to the community, rather informed by actual community values and preferences.

Can an organization's philanthropic donations encourage consumers to give? The roles of gratitude and boundary conditions

AbstractThis study examines whether an organization's charitable donation will prompt consumers who closely identify with the organization to give to the charity as well. We posit that identifying with a benefactor will enhance the perception that consumers are involved in the donation process, which evokes grateful feelings. We also predict that the amount of the organization's donation will positively moderate the influence of organization identification on charity‐evoked feelings of gratitude, while attitude toward the organization's charity will positively moderate the gratitude–donation relationship. In Study 1, we show how gratitude arises in the context of corporate social responsibility by demonstrating the mediating role of perceived donation contribution in the relationship between organization identification and gratitude. In Study 2, we demonstrate that organization identification has a significant indirect effect on donation intention through gratitude. Multigroup analyses show that the identification–gratitude link is more salient when the organization commits to donating a larger amount of money to a charity. Furthermore, the impact of gratitude on donation intent is significantly stronger for individuals who hold a favorable attitude toward the organization's corporate social responsibility activity. Our findings indicate that an organization's charitable giving also encourages consumers to give to the community via vicariously felt gratitude. Copyright © 2016 John Wiley &amp; Sons, Ltd.

Disparities in knowledge and willingness to donate research biospecimens: a mixed-methods study in an underserved urban community.

Although research involving biospecimens is essential in advancing cancer research, minorities, especially African-Americans, are underrepresented in such research. We conducted a mixed-method (qualitative focus groups among African-Americans and quantitative cross-sectional surveys) study on factors associated with biospecimen knowledge and donation intent in the medically underserved urban communities in Southeast and Southwest Washington, DC. Focus groups were conducted among 41 African-Americans and survey data was available from 302 community residents of different races/ethnicities using convenience sampling. We used logistic regression to model the association between biospecimen knowledge and donation intent with selected sociodemographic variables using survey data. Only 47% of the participants had knowledge of the different types of biospecimens. In multivariate logistic regression models, male gender, African-American race, and low education levels were significantly associated with lower knowledge about biospecimens. Compared to Whites (79%), fewer African-Americans (39%) and Hispanics (57%) had knowledge of biospecimens but the difference was significant for African-Americans only. Positive intent to donate biospecimens for research was observed among 36% of the survey respondents. After multivariate adjustment, only biospecimen knowledge was associated with donation intent (odds ratio = 1.91, 95% confidence interval 1.12, 3.27). Contrary to popular opinion, "mistrust of the medical community" was not the most commonly reported barrier for biospecimen donation among African-Americans. "Not knowing how biospecimens will be used" and "lack of knowledge of biospecimens" were the most common barriers. Our study highlights the importance of education on biospecimens among community residents to increase minority participation in biospecimen research.

Antecedents to participation in corporate social responsibility programs

PurposeIn today's competitive marketplace, companies are devoting an increasing amount of time and money to establishing themselves as socially responsible, in an effort to appeal to the value system of their target customers (Sen and Bhattacharya). In the current study, the paper focuses on corporate social responsibility (CSR) appeals in which the company promises to donate a portion of the purchase price to a charitable cause and requests a matching donation from the customer. More specifically, the purpose of this paper is to investigate the joint effects of status, proximity to CSR, and empathy towards the cause on consumers' willingness to donate money to a charity.Design/methodology/approachThe study used written scenarios and a 2×2×2 between subjects quasi experimental design to test the hypotheses. The authors predicted that status would interact with empathy and proximity of the cause to influence customers' donation behavior.FindingsThe results supported these predictions. Status seeking individuals exhibited higher levels of prosocial behaviors when the cause was a national one, particularly when the individual felt empathy towards the distant cause. Conversely, empathy feelings had a positive impact donation intent when the cause was a local one and status seeking was not activated.Originality/valueThe results of this study have significant implications for marketers and managers who are considering launching a CSR program. By aligning the cause with the type of consumer, corporations may be able to obtain a higher response rate from customers, thereby increasing the level of consumer involvement and engagement.