How Public Recognition Promotes Donations to Out-groups

In 2018, American consumers donated more than $290 billion to charitable organizations (Giving USA 2019). However, most donations by individual donors have been made to support domestic causes, with only 3% of the funds donated to international causes (Giving USA 2006). Although this pattern of behavior is not surprising given prior research suggesting that consumers are generally far more willing to help victims belonging to their in-group compared to an out-group (Cuddy, Rock, and Norton 2007; James and Zagefka 2017; Levine, Prosser, Evans, and Reicher 2005), this is not ideal in that donations are increasingly needed for international causes. According to the United Nations, 168 million people in 53 countries will need emergency relief in 2020 and the relief efforts are expected to cost $28.8 billion (OCHA 2019). Thus, it is critical to find ways to encourage consumers to engage in charitable giving toward victims beyond their in-group boundaries. To this end, we investigate how public recognition of charitable contributions can encourage consumers to donate more to out-group victims. Specifically, we propose that public recognition enhances charitable giving for outgroups due to the benefits of public out-group giving in elevating consumers' moral self-regard. Prior work has explored the role of public recognition (e.g., displaying donors' names on an organization's website, printed medium, or a physical object, or donating in a public setting) in charitable contributions. One stream of research has highlighted the positive effect of public recognition on donations. Public recognition often increases donations in a wide range of contexts (e.g., Basil et al. 2009, Harbaugh 1998) by fulfilling consumers' desire to present a positive social image (Karlan and McConnell 2014) or conform to the expectations of others (Fisher and Ackerman 1998). Another stream of research, however, suggested public recognition does not always increase charitable giving. For example, public recognition decreases donations by consumers with an independent self-construal who are willing to make decisions based on their own freewill without being influenced by social pressure (Simpson et al. 2018). Public recognition can also dampen charitable giving if donors are suspected of being motivated by ulterior, self-presentational motives (Benabou and Tirole 2006). Extending the prior research, we suggest the effect of public recognition on charitable giving will depend on the group me