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Record: 1

Title:

Understanding the effectiveness of social influence appeals in charitable giving: the roles of affinity with the cause, and past giving behavior.

Authors:

Minguez, Ana1 (AUTHOR) [email protected] Sese, F. Javier1 (AUTHOR)

Source:

Journal of Marketing Theory & Practice. Summer2021, Vol. 29 Issue 3, p375-386. 12p. 1 Diagram, 2 Charts, 2 Graphs.

Document Type:

Article

Subject Terms:

*Charitable giving *Nonprofit organizations Social influence Verstehen Social norms

NAICS/Industry Codes:

813319 Other Social Advocacy Organizations

Abstract:

Nonprofit organizations today face the challenges in terms of not only attracting the largest number of donors, but also developing effective strategies capable of targeting the right audience. To do so, social fundraising campaigns increasingly rely on social influence to motivate individuals to donate. This study aims to analyze the impact of social influence by using descriptive and injunctive social norms on the intention to donate, considering also the central roles that two personal characteristics – i.e., affinity with the social cause and past giving behavior – can play as moderators. The study findings enable us to provide both theoretical and practical implications. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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Author Affiliations:

1Faculty of Economics and Business, University of Zaragoza, Zaragoza, Spain

ISSN:

1069-6679

DOI:

10.1080/10696679.2020.1859335

Accession Number:

151189851

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<A href="https://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&AuthType=shib&db=bth&AN=151189851&site=eds-live&scope=site&custid=s6527200">Understanding the effectiveness of social influence appeals in charitable giving: the roles of affinity with the cause, and past giving behavior.</A>

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Understanding the effectiveness of social influence appeals in charitable giving: the roles of affinity with the cause, and past giving behavior 

Introduction

Nonprofit organizations today face the challenges in terms of not only attracting the largest number of donors, but also developing effective strategies capable of targeting the right audience. To do so, social fundraising campaigns increasingly rely on social influence to motivate individuals to donate. This study aims to analyze the impact of social influence by using descriptive and injunctive social norms on the intention to donate, considering also the central roles that two personal characteristics – i.e., affinity with the social cause and past giving behavior – can play as moderators. The study findings enable us to provide both theoretical and practical implications.

One of the most important challenges facing nonprofit organizations today is the complexity of the third sector (Arvidson, [ 4]; Siemens et al., [47]), which is composed largely of multiple organizations providing similar services (Helmig & Thaler, [32]). The strong competition among them increases the need to develop effective communication strategies that help attract the greatest number of donors (Das et al., [21]; Krupka & Croson, [38]). Some of these organizations have realized the importance of spreading successful social fundraising messages by creating favorable environments in which potential donors are exposed to social influence (American Red Cross, [ 2]; Charity: water, [14]). Social influence has been approached from different fields of science (Collins et al., [18]) and has been shown to influence both the judgment and behavior of individuals through its impact on decision-making, since this influence involves both to conform with other's expectations and to accept information obtained from them (Deutsch & Gerard, [24]). As a fundamental part of social interactions and the objectives of people, social influence has also been also considered a relevant element capable of contributing positively to the efficiency of organizations (Cialdini & Trost, [15]) and the success of social marketing campaigns. This psychological factor has taken an important role in marketing and behavioral science literature, which is mainly focused on bringing about a change in people's behavior. For example, facilitating the formation of a habit, engaging individuals in a particular responsible behavior, or even discouraging anti-social behavior (Frey & Meier, [29]; Shang & Croson, [46]; Siemens et al., [47]; K. White et al., [51]).

Although is undeniable that social influence has a considerable impact on the responsible behavior of individuals (White et al., [51]), identifying situations in which this influence has a greater impact and therefore becomes more persuasive is still partially unexplored within the context of charitable giving. Some research has argued that information that contain social influence, showing the decision of others about charitable donations, positively influence people to act in a similar way (Frey & Meier, [29]; Sasaki, [45]; Shang & Croson, [46]). For example, Sasaki ([45]) found that social influence through the exposure of charitable contributions from previous donors encourages the participation of other donors, by studying the causal effect of majority size on a donor's conformity behavior in charitable giving. Findings revealed this "majority effect" increases the likelihood that a new donor matches the amount donated. On the other hand, there is also some research that has shown that despite the powerful impact of social influence, some individuals are reluctant to donate, as they may feel that their contribution may not be necessary (Klinowski, [36]). Similarly, the results of the Jackson's ([34]) study reveal that knowing about the donation made by another donor does not always lead to increased participation rates of certain donors (lapsed donors). There is additional evidence pointing to the detrimental effects that social influence can have on some individuals and their giving behavior (DellaVigna et al., [23]). These authors have suggested that social pressure can have adverse effects on the welfare of donors, leading some individuals to act contrary to future fundraising requests. The previous discussion suggests that social influence does not always lead to more charitable giving, and thus, identifying those situations in which social influence exerts more influence has become an important topic in this domain. In particular, an important part of the literature has failed to consider the role played by some interesting individual factors and have frequently applied the effects of social influence by treating all potential donors similarly (Klinowski, [36]; Krupka & Croson, [38]).

In this study, we consider two personal characteristics that have been acknowledged by previous research as central aspects within charitable giving: affinity for a cause, and previous donation behaviors (Grace & Griffin, [31]; Kristofferson et al., [37]; Shang & Croson, [46]). Given that one of the desires of individuals is to maintain consistency between their own values and behaviors (Festinger, [26]), we suggest that affinity with the cause as well as past giving behavior are relevant factors in this study. As described by previous studies these two individual characteristics are considered to influence the way in which communication strategies involve people to provide support to charities (Adena & Huck, [ 1]; DellaVigna et al., [23]; Kristofferson et al., [37]). Feeling a strong affinity with the social cause is one of the reasons individuals may want to make a contribution (Kristofferson et al., [37]), and committing to a donation may involve similar behaviors in the future, such as continuing to donate to the same or different organizations (Adena & Huck, [ 1]; Festinger, [26]; Kristofferson et al., [37]). However, there is not enough evidence to suggest that affinity with the cause has a positive effect on charitable behavior when social influence is present in the donation request. Shang and Croson ([46]) found that social information can positively influence donations when donors are new (it is the first time they have contributed to the organization), compared with members who have previously contributed to the same organization. Although similar, these results have not been considered when people have contributed previously to other organizations.

To enhance knowledge on the use of social influence in nonprofit organizations, this study considers the role played by affinity with the cause and past giving behavior in explaining the effectiveness of social influence campaigns on charitable giving. To this end, we conducted an experiment in which social influence was considered through social norms (i.e., descriptive norms, those referring to previous donor's contributions; and injunctive norms, those that refer to contributions that organizations consider as appropriate for the campaign) within a social fundraising campaign, also taking into account the individuals' affinity to the cause and their previous donation behavior. The study seeks to contribute to the literature in several ways. First, attending to the previous research findings (Klinowski, [36]; Sasaki, [45]), the study helps to explain why the effectiveness of social influence in fundraising campaigns does not affect all individuals equally, by enhancing knowledge on the moderating role of two relevant individual characteristics – i.e., affinity with the social cause (Kristofferson et al., [37]) and past giving behavior (Shang & Croson, [46]) – on the relationship between social influence appeals and charitable giving. Second, this study provides novel insights into the development of effective communication strategies by nonprofit organizations by identifying potential donor profiles and suggesting ways to adapt the messages accordingly (Das et al., [21]). This will result in higher returns on investment as a result of targeting the messages to individuals who are most likely to respond, and thus avoiding spending resources on those who will not respond. Finally, this is one of the first studies to test the impact of social influence while considering both descriptive and injunctive norms in the context of charitable giving, as most previous literature has investigated the consequences of these norms for responsible behavior (e.g., recycling, consumption, or energy conservation). By looking at these two types of social norms separately, we offer additional insights into how to best design social fundraising messages to improve their effectiveness.

Conceptual framework

As suggested above, the impact of social influence on giving behavior can vary when it interacts with other personal characteristics and attitudes (Lascu & Zinkhan, [39]; Wiepking & Heijnen, [55]). Therefore, we develop a conceptual model aimed at exploring the effectiveness of social influence in social fundraising campaigns, considering the role played by affinity with the cause and past giving behavior (see Figure 1). This model is based on literature focused on demonstrating the explanatory potential of social influence over people's decision making. A large number of previous studies demonstrate how this influence significantly affects values, and determines the judgment, as well as the responsible behaviors of individuals (Frey & Meier, [29]; Klinowski, [36]; Krupka & Croson, [38]; Sasaki, [45]; Shang & Croson, [46]; Siemens et al., [47]; White et al., [51]). First, to consider the effect of social influence we include social information by appealing to two social norms, descriptive and injunctive, within messages requesting contributions to a social cause. Broadly, research interested in better understanding the impact of social influence on people's behavior reveals how individuals tend to conform to social norms (Frey & Meier, [29]; Shang & Croson, [46]; White & Simpson, [53]). This can be attributed to the need for humans to be in line with social norms and to belong to social groups, since they represent a fundamental role in the formation of a social identity (Brewer & Gardner, [13]). Furthermore, the effect of these norms has been validated in relation to a wide variety of social behaviors such as recycling, energy conservation, responsible consumption, or other practices that benefit the welfare of society (White et al., [51]; White & Simpson, [53]).

Graph: Figure 1. Conceptual model

Second, we shed light on which individuals are most impacted by social influence by including the moderating role of two relevant personal characteristics in the decision to donate: affinity with the cause, and past giving behavior. In this framework, we first analyze the direct effect of social norms and both personal characteristics on donation intentions, determining the highest participation rates according to different messages, which may include norms or not, and to different types of individuals. We then analyze the moderating effects of affinity and past giving behavior by providing information about the individuals for whom the use of social norms is most necessary to increase their intention to donate.

Marsden and Friedkin ([41]) stated that "the only precondition for social influence is information about the attitudes or behaviors of other actors" (p. 4). This implies the presence of a certain type of social interaction through the provision of social information. Research in this area suggests that social information affects behavior and does so by influencing perceived social norms (Croson et al., [19]). Based on this, the current study considers social norms within the messages of fundraising campaigns as a way of providing information to potential donors in order to exert positive social influence on donation behavior. Previous research has considered the existence of two social norms, as mentioned by Cialdini et al. ([17]), in the context of responsible behavior. On the one hand, descriptive norms inform about the majority behavior of a group (Cialdini et al., [17]), which can provoke in the individual a need to adjust to the behavior and expectations of that group (Deutsch & Gerard, [24]). On the other, injunctive norms inform about the behavior that is really considered appropriate (Cialdini et al., [17]), thereby providing greater security to the individual who performs it (Soule & Madrigal, [48]). Although injunctive norms, as well as descriptive ones, exert influence on individuals, each has its own specificities with respect to the feelings it arouses in individuals. They refer to a distinct source of human motivation, in other words, each norm influences differently the way in which it promotes the conformity of individuals with the positive expectations of others or the acceptance of information obtained from another as evidence of reality (Deutsch & Gerard, [24]).

However, behavior does not always have to be influenced by social information, since the desire to act according to one's own formed identity, and the relevance of behaving in line therewith (Berger, [11]; Berger & Heath, [10]; Festinger, [26]; Lascu & Zinkhan, [39]), may be conditions of greater weight in upcoming actions. There are, therefore, some personal factors to consider related to identity, some of which are linked to preferences (Berger, [11]), or even to previously performed behaviors (Gneezy et al., [30]). Supporting this idea, and to highlight the benefits of segmenting potential donors into nonprofit organizations, previous literature has identified relevant factors that can influence charitable giving (Boenigk & Helmig, [12]). First, among the most relevant determinants are donor preferences for supporting a cause. Attitudes toward aid as well as support for social projects or problems depend significantly on a donor's predilection for the social cause in question (Bachke et al., [ 5]; Kristofferson et al., [37]). In this regard, it is pertinent to mention affinity with the social cause as an interesting and predictive antecedent of participation (Kristofferson et al., [37]). These authors note that such affinity pertains to the identification and affection that an individual experiences toward a social cause with respect to its purpose.

Second, past giving behavior is also closely related to attitudes and identity, and to the maintenance of consistency according to these when individuals perform subsequent behaviors (Berger, [11]; Festinger, [26]; Reed et al., [43]). Donors' experiences can help to determine their tendency to be concerned about social problems and their interest in continuing this type of behavior (Becker, [ 6]; Sargeant & Woodliffe, [44]). The current study is based on research which has suggested that previous contributions predict subsequent ones, and that preferences for social causes promote the decision to donate. Furthermore, we posit that the impact that social influence has on charitable giving could be moderated by both important individual characteristics, the affinity with the social cause and past giving behavior.

Hypothesis development

Effects of social influence on intention to donate

The tool of providing individuals with social information has been used by organizations either to bring about a change in people's behavior or to facilitate the formation of a habit (White et al., [51]). Cialdini and Goldstein ([16]) suggested that people attend to social influence mainly because they need to form an idea of reality as accurate as possible, develop relationships with others, and maintain a favorable self-concept. Thus, individuals seek some form of compensation when they act in accordance with established social guidelines (Frey & Meier, [29]; Shang & Croson, [46]). Previous research has addressed the effects of social influence through some of its dimensions, highlighting the relevance of social norms given their strong impact on responsible behavior (White et al., [51]). In the context of charitable giving, the research has only addressed the effect of messages that include descriptive norms (appeals of contributions of others), which has been shown to result in a positive influence by encouraging donations (Shang & Croson, [46]). However, messages that contain suggestions about what behavior is considered appropriate (injunctive norms) could also have a positive influence, as these suggestions would serve to satisfy some of the needs mentioned above, such as maintaining a favorable self-concept. Therefore, we expect that both types of social norm will positively impact intention to donate. Formally:

H1. Social influence through descriptive norms will positively impact intention to donate.

H2. Social influence through injunctive norms will positively impact intention to donate.

Main effect of affinity with the social cause on intention to donate

Preferences for, or divergence from, a social cause serve as explanations for why individuals can differ in their helping behavior (Das et al., [21]; Grace & Griffin, [31]; Mainardes et al., [40]). In line with Kristofferson et al. ([37]), the affinity that individuals hold for a social cause is relevant to the reasoning that they develop in the search for motives to contribute for the benefit of that social cause. Therefore, greater participation rates in donation campaigns are expected when affinity with the social cause is high. Correspondingly, when individuals' affinity is low, it is expected that their intentions to donate will also be lower. Thus:

H3.Intentions to donate will be greater when individuals show higher affinity with the social cause as compared to those who show low affinity.

Moderating effect of affinity with the social cause on the relation between social influence…

Nolan et al. ([42]) stated that when people are faced with messages containing social information, social influence is strong. However, when a person feels a high affinity for a specific social cause, this is likely to increase their likelihood of supporting the organization, partly due to the intrinsic motivation it incites (Bennett, [ 9]; Kristofferson et al., [37]). Therefore, the effect of social information may be weaker on behavior in this case, since the effect of affinity seems to be sufficiently effective. On the other hand, for individuals with low affinity, social information can offer a frame of reference and a guide on which to base future behavior (Huh et al., [33]). When people know about others' contributions, they can feel more motivated to do so (Wiepking & Heijnen, [55]) by taking others' actions as a signal that they have confidence in the organization and in its efficacy through efficient resource allocation (Wiepking et al., [56]). Similarly, when it is the organization that suggests a particular behavior (as an adequate behavior that should be done), individuals may take this request as important and necessary (Das et al., [21]; Soule & Madrigal, [48]), as well as feeling the need to act correctly (Cialdini & Trost, [15]). Therefore, social information messages that allow individuals to understand how people do and should behave (Cialdini et al., [17]) might influence the intention to donate, however, donors with high affinity for the cause will not be affected as strongly as those with lower affinity. Thus:

H4. The positive impact on intention to donate of solicitations that include social information, as opposed to those that do not include social information, will be greater in people with low affinity to the cause.

Main effect of past giving behavior on intention to donate

Another relevant antecedent of charitable donations is the giving behavior of individuals in previous situations (Adena & Huck, [ <a rel='nofollow' target='_blank' shape='rect' href='https://eds.p.ebscohost.com/eds/delivery?sid=c1187ae8-fc01-4114-837d-ddc3f0b0a743%40redis&vid=1&ReturnUrl=https%3a%2f%2feds.p.ebscohost.com%2feds%2fdetail%2fdetail%3fvid%3d0%26sid%3dc1187ae8-fc01-4114-837d-ddc3f0b0a743%2540redi