Resource Publicness Matters in Organizational Perceptions

Publicness theory deepens our understanding of differences and similarities of organizational behavior. However, in areas in which public, nonprofit, and private organizations compete to serve people, it remains unclear how the level of dimensional publicness influences individuals’ perceptions and choices of organizations. In this study, we present evidence from two online experiments examining the way people's perceptions of resource publicness (operationalized as government funding, donations, and service fees) of elderly care centers in the U.S. influence their judgment of organizations and service choices. Findings suggest that people perceive donative organizations to be the warmest and most competent, followed by government‐funded and commercial organizations. We conclude that individuals' perceptions of resource publicness lead to different judgment that may influence their service choice decisions.