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 beha...
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| description | 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 |
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| fullrecord | <record><control><sourceid>proquest</sourceid><recordid>TN_cdi_proquest_journals_3090691932</recordid><sourceformat>XML</sourceformat><sourcesystem>PC</sourcesystem><sourcerecordid>3090691932</sourcerecordid><originalsourceid>FETCH-proquest_journals_30906919323</originalsourceid><addsrcrecordid>eNpjYeA0MLC00LU0MrXgYOAqLs4yMDA0NzEz42Qw98gvVwgoTcrJTFYISk3OT8_LLMnMz1MIKMrPzS9JLVZwyc9LBIkUK5TkK_iXluimF-WXFhTzMLCmJeYUp_JCaW4GZTfXEGcP3YKi_MLS1OKS-Kz80qI8oFS8sYGlgZmloaWxkTFxqgCwlDVH</addsrcrecordid><sourcetype>Aggregation Database</sourcetype><iscdi>true</iscdi><recordtype>conference_proceeding</recordtype><pqid>3090691932</pqid></control><display><type>conference_proceeding</type><title>How Public Recognition Promotes Donations to Out-groups</title><source>EBSCOhost Business Source Complete</source><creator>Han, Eunjoo ; Lee, Saerom ; Winterich, Karen Page</creator><creatorcontrib>Han, Eunjoo ; Lee, Saerom ; Winterich, Karen Page</creatorcontrib><description>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 membership of victims: Whether donation recipients belong to the same group as potential donors (in-group victims) or not (out-group victims). More specifically, the current research suggests public recognition will primarily have a positive effect on donations toward out-group victims; however, it would not necessarily increase donations toward in-group victims (the latter is consistent with conflicting results on the role of public recognition in charitable giving). Individuals tend to categorize themselves into social groups, positively differentiating their group from other groups (Abrams and Hogg 2010; Tajfel and Turner 1979). This accounts for why individuals prefer to help victims of their own group over those of other groups (Bear and Rand 2016; Mullen, Brown, and Smith 1992). Indeed, people find it more challenging to empathize with others' suffering when victims belong to out-groups (Batson and Ahmad 2009). According to Reed and Aquino (2003), out-group helping requires expanding circle of moral regard toward out-groups, and because of that, donating to out- group victims tends to be observed among individuals who consider being moral is important and essential to their self-identity. This finding, in turn, may suggest that out-group (vs. in- group) helping can be more diagnostic of the helper's altruistic characters since it is a behavior associated with high moral identity. Thus, helping victims of an out-group (vs. in- group), when publicly recognized, may engender more positive reactions from others. Prior work on self-identity has shown that if observers of a helping behavior are expected to perceive the helper altruistic, the expected positive social evaluations should elevate the helper's self-view on his altruistic identity, leading to a more prosocial follow-on behavior (e.g., Barnes, Mason, and Leary 1988; Luhtanen and Crocker 1992). Building on this research, we propose that donating to out-group victims is a form of behavior that will improve consumers' moral selfregard particularly when it is publicly recognizable. Consumers will consider that donating to out-groups, when publicly recognized, will generate positive social evaluations on their moral identity and elevate their moral self-regard. As such, consumers will be more likely to donate to out-groups under public recognition, driven by elevated perceptions of moral self-regard (e.g., Zlatev et al. 2020). Taken together, we suggest that public recognition will promote donations to out- groups by improving their moral self-regard (not simply by raising self-presentation motives as typically demonstrated in the literature). In contrast, we do not expect that public recognition will promote donations toward in-group victims, because in-group helping is typically regarded as a social default (Insko et al. 2001) and taken more for granted as a normatively expected behavior (DiDonato, Ullrich, and Krueger 2011; Sierksma and Thijs 2017; Van Bavel, Packer, and Cunningham 2008). Study 1 Study 1 aims to provide an initial test of our basic prediction. We examine participants' choice of a charity between charities supporting in-group versus out-group victims as a function of public recognition. Method and Procedure The study was a two-group (Public recognition: Present vs. Absent) between-subjects design. Sixty-seven undergraduate students (63.2% females) participated in this study in exchange for course credit. Most of the participants (78%) were U.S. nationals. Participants first read about how global food banking systems work and how two specific foodbanks - Feeding America (supporting in-group victims in the U.S.) and Somali Foodbank (supporting out-group victims in Somalia, Africa) - work to end hunger crises. After that, participants were asked to choose a foodbank they would like to donate between the two organizations. To minimize any differences in the perceived impact of helping, we informed that every dollar (USD) would help foodbanks distribute 5 meals in both countries. In the public recognition condition, participants were instructed that donors' names would be posted on the official Facebook pages of the university and the chosen foodbank. In the control condition, participants did not receive any information on public exposure. Results and Discussion A logistic regression analysis was conducted to examine the effect of public recognition (recognition = 1, control = -1) on participants' choice of charity (Feeding America = 1, Somali Foodbank = 2). Public recognition was found to increase willingness to help an out-group (β = .59, SE = .26, χ2 = 4.96, p = .03): Somali foodbank was chosen by 27.6% of the participants in the control condition, but its choice share increased to 55.3% in the public recognition condition. As expected, this finding suggests that individuals are more likely to help an out-group when their contribution is publicly recognizable (vs. not). Study 2 Study 2 aims to demonstrate the robustness of the effect of public recognition on out- group versus in-group helping using an actual donation measure in a real context of disaster relief. To this end, the study was conducted a few weeks after a large earthquake struck Indonesia (September 28, 2018) and Hurricane Michael hit the East coast of the U.S. (October 10, 2018). Method and Procedure The study was a 2 (Victim: In-group vs. out-group) X 2 (Public recognition: Present vs. Absent) between-subjects design. Three hundred and fifteen U.S. citizens recruited from Prolific (43.5% females) participated in this study in return for monetary compensation. Participants were first reminded of a recent natural disaster and read further information about victims affected by the natural disaster in Indonesia (Sulawesi earthquake and tsunami) or in the U.S. (Hurricane Michael) depending on the victim condition. Participants were also told that they would be able to help affected families in America or Indonesia by donating to the Save the Children's emergency response team. Following that, all participants were instructed that they would be entered into a random draw to receive a bonus payment of $20 and that they can choose to donate any portion of the bonus to Save the Children. When public recognition was present, participants were told that donors' names would be listed in the official website of Save the Children. When public recognition was absent, participants learned that their decision would be confidential. Participants indicated how much of $20 bonus they would donate to Save the Children. Results and Discussion An ANOVA with victim and recognition as independent variables and participants' log-transformed donation amount as the dependent variable revealed a significant two-way interaction on the amount of donation (F(1, 311) = 7.05, p < .01). Public recognition (vs. no recognition) increased donations to out-group victims (F(1, 311) = 3.61, p = .058). In contrast, public recognition slightly decreased donations to in-group victims (F(1, 311) = 3.44, p = .065). Looking at another direction, the amount of donation was significantly higher for out-group (vs. in-group) victims when public recognition was present (F(1, 311) = 4.69, p = .03). When public recognition was absent, however, donations to out-group versus in-group victims did not differ (F(1, 311) = 2.52, p = .11). These results again provide support for our basic theorizing that public recognition promotes donations to out-group (vs. in-group) victims. Impo</description><identifier>ISSN: 0098-9258</identifier><language>eng</language><publisher>Urbana: Association for Consumer Research</publisher><subject>Charities ; Consumer behavior ; Donations ; Philanthropy ; Social networks</subject><ispartof>Advances in consumer research, 2020, Vol.48, p.385-388</ispartof><rights>Copyright Association for Consumer Research 2020</rights><lds50>peer_reviewed</lds50><woscitedreferencessubscribed>false</woscitedreferencessubscribed></display><links><openurl>$$Topenurl_article</openurl><openurlfulltext>$$Topenurlfull_article</openurlfulltext><thumbnail>$$Tsyndetics_thumb_exl</thumbnail><link.rule.ids>309,310,776,780,785,786,23910,23911,25119</link.rule.ids></links><search><creatorcontrib>Han, Eunjoo</creatorcontrib><creatorcontrib>Lee, Saerom</creatorcontrib><creatorcontrib>Winterich, Karen Page</creatorcontrib><title>How Public Recognition Promotes Donations to Out-groups</title><title>Advances in consumer research</title><description>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 membership of victims: Whether donation recipients belong to the same group as potential donors (in-group victims) or not (out-group victims). More specifically, the current research suggests public recognition will primarily have a positive effect on donations toward out-group victims; however, it would not necessarily increase donations toward in-group victims (the latter is consistent with conflicting results on the role of public recognition in charitable giving). Individuals tend to categorize themselves into social groups, positively differentiating their group from other groups (Abrams and Hogg 2010; Tajfel and Turner 1979). This accounts for why individuals prefer to help victims of their own group over those of other groups (Bear and Rand 2016; Mullen, Brown, and Smith 1992). Indeed, people find it more challenging to empathize with others' suffering when victims belong to out-groups (Batson and Ahmad 2009). According to Reed and Aquino (2003), out-group helping requires expanding circle of moral regard toward out-groups, and because of that, donating to out- group victims tends to be observed among individuals who consider being moral is important and essential to their self-identity. This finding, in turn, may suggest that out-group (vs. in- group) helping can be more diagnostic of the helper's altruistic characters since it is a behavior associated with high moral identity. Thus, helping victims of an out-group (vs. in- group), when publicly recognized, may engender more positive reactions from others. Prior work on self-identity has shown that if observers of a helping behavior are expected to perceive the helper altruistic, the expected positive social evaluations should elevate the helper's self-view on his altruistic identity, leading to a more prosocial follow-on behavior (e.g., Barnes, Mason, and Leary 1988; Luhtanen and Crocker 1992). Building on this research, we propose that donating to out-group victims is a form of behavior that will improve consumers' moral selfregard particularly when it is publicly recognizable. Consumers will consider that donating to out-groups, when publicly recognized, will generate positive social evaluations on their moral identity and elevate their moral self-regard. As such, consumers will be more likely to donate to out-groups under public recognition, driven by elevated perceptions of moral self-regard (e.g., Zlatev et al. 2020). Taken together, we suggest that public recognition will promote donations to out- groups by improving their moral self-regard (not simply by raising self-presentation motives as typically demonstrated in the literature). In contrast, we do not expect that public recognition will promote donations toward in-group victims, because in-group helping is typically regarded as a social default (Insko et al. 2001) and taken more for granted as a normatively expected behavior (DiDonato, Ullrich, and Krueger 2011; Sierksma and Thijs 2017; Van Bavel, Packer, and Cunningham 2008). Study 1 Study 1 aims to provide an initial test of our basic prediction. We examine participants' choice of a charity between charities supporting in-group versus out-group victims as a function of public recognition. Method and Procedure The study was a two-group (Public recognition: Present vs. Absent) between-subjects design. Sixty-seven undergraduate students (63.2% females) participated in this study in exchange for course credit. Most of the participants (78%) were U.S. nationals. Participants first read about how global food banking systems work and how two specific foodbanks - Feeding America (supporting in-group victims in the U.S.) and Somali Foodbank (supporting out-group victims in Somalia, Africa) - work to end hunger crises. After that, participants were asked to choose a foodbank they would like to donate between the two organizations. To minimize any differences in the perceived impact of helping, we informed that every dollar (USD) would help foodbanks distribute 5 meals in both countries. In the public recognition condition, participants were instructed that donors' names would be posted on the official Facebook pages of the university and the chosen foodbank. In the control condition, participants did not receive any information on public exposure. Results and Discussion A logistic regression analysis was conducted to examine the effect of public recognition (recognition = 1, control = -1) on participants' choice of charity (Feeding America = 1, Somali Foodbank = 2). Public recognition was found to increase willingness to help an out-group (β = .59, SE = .26, χ2 = 4.96, p = .03): Somali foodbank was chosen by 27.6% of the participants in the control condition, but its choice share increased to 55.3% in the public recognition condition. As expected, this finding suggests that individuals are more likely to help an out-group when their contribution is publicly recognizable (vs. not). Study 2 Study 2 aims to demonstrate the robustness of the effect of public recognition on out- group versus in-group helping using an actual donation measure in a real context of disaster relief. To this end, the study was conducted a few weeks after a large earthquake struck Indonesia (September 28, 2018) and Hurricane Michael hit the East coast of the U.S. (October 10, 2018). Method and Procedure The study was a 2 (Victim: In-group vs. out-group) X 2 (Public recognition: Present vs. Absent) between-subjects design. Three hundred and fifteen U.S. citizens recruited from Prolific (43.5% females) participated in this study in return for monetary compensation. Participants were first reminded of a recent natural disaster and read further information about victims affected by the natural disaster in Indonesia (Sulawesi earthquake and tsunami) or in the U.S. (Hurricane Michael) depending on the victim condition. Participants were also told that they would be able to help affected families in America or Indonesia by donating to the Save the Children's emergency response team. Following that, all participants were instructed that they would be entered into a random draw to receive a bonus payment of $20 and that they can choose to donate any portion of the bonus to Save the Children. When public recognition was present, participants were told that donors' names would be listed in the official website of Save the Children. When public recognition was absent, participants learned that their decision would be confidential. Participants indicated how much of $20 bonus they would donate to Save the Children. Results and Discussion An ANOVA with victim and recognition as independent variables and participants' log-transformed donation amount as the dependent variable revealed a significant two-way interaction on the amount of donation (F(1, 311) = 7.05, p < .01). Public recognition (vs. no recognition) increased donations to out-group victims (F(1, 311) = 3.61, p = .058). In contrast, public recognition slightly decreased donations to in-group victims (F(1, 311) = 3.44, p = .065). Looking at another direction, the amount of donation was significantly higher for out-group (vs. in-group) victims when public recognition was present (F(1, 311) = 4.69, p = .03). When public recognition was absent, however, donations to out-group versus in-group victims did not differ (F(1, 311) = 2.52, p = .11). These results again provide support for our basic theorizing that public recognition promotes donations to out-group (vs. in-group) victims. Impo</description><subject>Charities</subject><subject>Consumer behavior</subject><subject>Donations</subject><subject>Philanthropy</subject><subject>Social networks</subject><issn>0098-9258</issn><fulltext>true</fulltext><rsrctype>conference_proceeding</rsrctype><creationdate>2020</creationdate><recordtype>conference_proceeding</recordtype><sourceid>ABUWG</sourceid><sourceid>AFKRA</sourceid><sourceid>BENPR</sourceid><sourceid>CCPQU</sourceid><sourceid>DWQXO</sourceid><recordid>eNpjYeA0MLC00LU0MrXgYOAqLs4yMDA0NzEz42Qw98gvVwgoTcrJTFYISk3OT8_LLMnMz1MIKMrPzS9JLVZwyc9LBIkUK5TkK_iXluimF-WXFhTzMLCmJeYUp_JCaW4GZTfXEGcP3YKi_MLS1OKS-Kz80qI8oFS8sYGlgZmloaWxkTFxqgCwlDVH</recordid><startdate>20200101</startdate><enddate>20200101</enddate><creator>Han, Eunjoo</creator><creator>Lee, Saerom</creator><creator>Winterich, Karen Page</creator><general>Association for Consumer Research</general><scope>0U~</scope><scope>1-H</scope><scope>3V.</scope><scope>7WY</scope><scope>7WZ</scope><scope>7XB</scope><scope>87Z</scope><scope>8FK</scope><scope>8FL</scope><scope>ABUWG</scope><scope>AFKRA</scope><scope>BENPR</scope><scope>BEZIV</scope><scope>CCPQU</scope><scope>DWQXO</scope><scope>FRNLG</scope><scope>F~G</scope><scope>K60</scope><scope>K6~</scope><scope>L.-</scope><scope>L.0</scope><scope>M0C</scope><scope>PQBIZ</scope><scope>PQBZA</scope><scope>PQEST</scope><scope>PQQKQ</scope><scope>PQUKI</scope><scope>PRINS</scope><scope>PSYQQ</scope><scope>Q9U</scope></search><sort><creationdate>20200101</creationdate><title>How Public Recognition Promotes Donations to Out-groups</title><author>Han, Eunjoo ; Lee, Saerom ; Winterich, Karen Page</author></sort><facets><frbrtype>5</frbrtype><frbrgroupid>cdi_FETCH-proquest_journals_30906919323</frbrgroupid><rsrctype>conference_proceedings</rsrctype><prefilter>conference_proceedings</prefilter><language>eng</language><creationdate>2020</creationdate><topic>Charities</topic><topic>Consumer behavior</topic><topic>Donations</topic><topic>Philanthropy</topic><topic>Social networks</topic><toplevel>peer_reviewed</toplevel><toplevel>online_resources</toplevel><creatorcontrib>Han, Eunjoo</creatorcontrib><creatorcontrib>Lee, Saerom</creatorcontrib><creatorcontrib>Winterich, Karen Page</creatorcontrib><collection>Global News & ABI/Inform Professional</collection><collection>Trade PRO</collection><collection>ProQuest Central (Corporate)</collection><collection>ABI/INFORM Collection</collection><collection>ABI/INFORM Global (PDF only)</collection><collection>ProQuest Central (purchase pre-March 2016)</collection><collection>ABI/INFORM Global (Alumni Edition)</collection><collection>ProQuest Central (Alumni) (purchase pre-March 2016)</collection><collection>ABI/INFORM Collection (Alumni Edition)</collection><collection>ProQuest Central (Alumni Edition)</collection><collection>ProQuest Central UK/Ireland</collection><collection>ProQuest Central</collection><collection>Business Premium Collection</collection><collection>ProQuest One Community College</collection><collection>ProQuest Central Korea</collection><collection>Business Premium Collection (Alumni)</collection><collection>ABI/INFORM Global (Corporate)</collection><collection>ProQuest Business Collection (Alumni Edition)</collection><collection>ProQuest Business Collection</collection><collection>ABI/INFORM Professional Advanced</collection><collection>ABI/INFORM Professional Standard</collection><collection>ABI/INFORM Global</collection><collection>ProQuest One Business</collection><collection>ProQuest One Business (Alumni)</collection><collection>ProQuest One Academic Eastern Edition (DO NOT USE)</collection><collection>ProQuest One Academic</collection><collection>ProQuest One Academic UKI Edition</collection><collection>ProQuest Central China</collection><collection>ProQuest One Psychology</collection><collection>ProQuest Central Basic</collection></facets><delivery><delcategory>Remote Search Resource</delcategory><fulltext>fulltext</fulltext></delivery><addata><au>Han, Eunjoo</au><au>Lee, Saerom</au><au>Winterich, Karen Page</au><format>book</format><genre>proceeding</genre><ristype>CONF</ristype><atitle>How Public Recognition Promotes Donations to Out-groups</atitle><btitle>Advances in consumer research</btitle><date>2020-01-01</date><risdate>2020</risdate><volume>48</volume><spage>385</spage><epage>388</epage><pages>385-388</pages><issn>0098-9258</issn><abstract>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 membership of victims: Whether donation recipients belong to the same group as potential donors (in-group victims) or not (out-group victims). More specifically, the current research suggests public recognition will primarily have a positive effect on donations toward out-group victims; however, it would not necessarily increase donations toward in-group victims (the latter is consistent with conflicting results on the role of public recognition in charitable giving). Individuals tend to categorize themselves into social groups, positively differentiating their group from other groups (Abrams and Hogg 2010; Tajfel and Turner 1979). This accounts for why individuals prefer to help victims of their own group over those of other groups (Bear and Rand 2016; Mullen, Brown, and Smith 1992). Indeed, people find it more challenging to empathize with others' suffering when victims belong to out-groups (Batson and Ahmad 2009). According to Reed and Aquino (2003), out-group helping requires expanding circle of moral regard toward out-groups, and because of that, donating to out- group victims tends to be observed among individuals who consider being moral is important and essential to their self-identity. This finding, in turn, may suggest that out-group (vs. in- group) helping can be more diagnostic of the helper's altruistic characters since it is a behavior associated with high moral identity. Thus, helping victims of an out-group (vs. in- group), when publicly recognized, may engender more positive reactions from others. Prior work on self-identity has shown that if observers of a helping behavior are expected to perceive the helper altruistic, the expected positive social evaluations should elevate the helper's self-view on his altruistic identity, leading to a more prosocial follow-on behavior (e.g., Barnes, Mason, and Leary 1988; Luhtanen and Crocker 1992). Building on this research, we propose that donating to out-group victims is a form of behavior that will improve consumers' moral selfregard particularly when it is publicly recognizable. Consumers will consider that donating to out-groups, when publicly recognized, will generate positive social evaluations on their moral identity and elevate their moral self-regard. As such, consumers will be more likely to donate to out-groups under public recognition, driven by elevated perceptions of moral self-regard (e.g., Zlatev et al. 2020). Taken together, we suggest that public recognition will promote donations to out- groups by improving their moral self-regard (not simply by raising self-presentation motives as typically demonstrated in the literature). In contrast, we do not expect that public recognition will promote donations toward in-group victims, because in-group helping is typically regarded as a social default (Insko et al. 2001) and taken more for granted as a normatively expected behavior (DiDonato, Ullrich, and Krueger 2011; Sierksma and Thijs 2017; Van Bavel, Packer, and Cunningham 2008). Study 1 Study 1 aims to provide an initial test of our basic prediction. We examine participants' choice of a charity between charities supporting in-group versus out-group victims as a function of public recognition. Method and Procedure The study was a two-group (Public recognition: Present vs. Absent) between-subjects design. Sixty-seven undergraduate students (63.2% females) participated in this study in exchange for course credit. Most of the participants (78%) were U.S. nationals. Participants first read about how global food banking systems work and how two specific foodbanks - Feeding America (supporting in-group victims in the U.S.) and Somali Foodbank (supporting out-group victims in Somalia, Africa) - work to end hunger crises. After that, participants were asked to choose a foodbank they would like to donate between the two organizations. To minimize any differences in the perceived impact of helping, we informed that every dollar (USD) would help foodbanks distribute 5 meals in both countries. In the public recognition condition, participants were instructed that donors' names would be posted on the official Facebook pages of the university and the chosen foodbank. In the control condition, participants did not receive any information on public exposure. Results and Discussion A logistic regression analysis was conducted to examine the effect of public recognition (recognition = 1, control = -1) on participants' choice of charity (Feeding America = 1, Somali Foodbank = 2). Public recognition was found to increase willingness to help an out-group (β = .59, SE = .26, χ2 = 4.96, p = .03): Somali foodbank was chosen by 27.6% of the participants in the control condition, but its choice share increased to 55.3% in the public recognition condition. As expected, this finding suggests that individuals are more likely to help an out-group when their contribution is publicly recognizable (vs. not). Study 2 Study 2 aims to demonstrate the robustness of the effect of public recognition on out- group versus in-group helping using an actual donation measure in a real context of disaster relief. To this end, the study was conducted a few weeks after a large earthquake struck Indonesia (September 28, 2018) and Hurricane Michael hit the East coast of the U.S. (October 10, 2018). Method and Procedure The study was a 2 (Victim: In-group vs. out-group) X 2 (Public recognition: Present vs. Absent) between-subjects design. Three hundred and fifteen U.S. citizens recruited from Prolific (43.5% females) participated in this study in return for monetary compensation. Participants were first reminded of a recent natural disaster and read further information about victims affected by the natural disaster in Indonesia (Sulawesi earthquake and tsunami) or in the U.S. (Hurricane Michael) depending on the victim condition. Participants were also told that they would be able to help affected families in America or Indonesia by donating to the Save the Children's emergency response team. Following that, all participants were instructed that they would be entered into a random draw to receive a bonus payment of $20 and that they can choose to donate any portion of the bonus to Save the Children. When public recognition was present, participants were told that donors' names would be listed in the official website of Save the Children. When public recognition was absent, participants learned that their decision would be confidential. Participants indicated how much of $20 bonus they would donate to Save the Children. Results and Discussion An ANOVA with victim and recognition as independent variables and participants' log-transformed donation amount as the dependent variable revealed a significant two-way interaction on the amount of donation (F(1, 311) = 7.05, p < .01). Public recognition (vs. no recognition) increased donations to out-group victims (F(1, 311) = 3.61, p = .058). In contrast, public recognition slightly decreased donations to in-group victims (F(1, 311) = 3.44, p = .065). Looking at another direction, the amount of donation was significantly higher for out-group (vs. in-group) victims when public recognition was present (F(1, 311) = 4.69, p = .03). When public recognition was absent, however, donations to out-group versus in-group victims did not differ (F(1, 311) = 2.52, p = .11). These results again provide support for our basic theorizing that public recognition promotes donations to out-group (vs. in-group) victims. Impo</abstract><cop>Urbana</cop><pub>Association for Consumer Research</pub></addata></record> |
| fulltext | fulltext |
| identifier | ISSN: 0098-9258 |
| ispartof | Advances in consumer research, 2020, Vol.48, p.385-388 |
| issn | 0098-9258 |
| language | eng |
| recordid | cdi_proquest_journals_3090691932 |
| source | EBSCOhost Business Source Complete |
| subjects | Charities Consumer behavior Donations Philanthropy Social networks |
| title | How Public Recognition Promotes Donations to Out-groups |
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