Unobserved Altruism: How Self-Signaling Motivations and Social Benefits Shape Willingness to Donate

Public recognition is usually thought to motivate charitable giving. However, the current research identifies an important context in which the opposite occurs. We examine commonplace donation decisions involving modest amounts of money, which either take place in private, or are observed by others....

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Journal of experimental psychology. Applied 2020-09, Vol.26 (3), p.538-550
Main Authors: Savary, Jennifer, Goldsmith, Kelly
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Altruism
Charitable Behavior
Decision Theory
Desire
Female
Human
Male
Money
Motivation
Test Construction
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Summary:Public recognition is usually thought to motivate charitable giving. However, the current research identifies an important context in which the opposite occurs. We examine commonplace donation decisions involving modest amounts of money, which either take place in private, or are observed by others. We find robust evidence that public recognition can decrease donation likelihood. Furthermore, we demonstrate that this effect operates through a self-signaling mechanism: Public recognition creates ambiguity about whether the choice to donate is motivated by genuine altruism or the desire for recognition. As a result, public recognition can crowd out, or undermine, the self-signal of altruism, which in turn decreases donation rates. Finally, we test an important theoretical boundary, and show that when the social benefits associated with public recognition for donating are sufficiently valuable, the negative effects of public recognition attenuate. Public Significance Statement Many academics and managers of nonprofit organizations believe that to increase donation rates, charities should promise public recognition for donating (e.g., mentioning donors' names in a newsletter, on a web page, or on a store wall). In direct contrast, our research indicates that when asking for a small donation to a charity, offering public recognition can decrease willingness to donate. This occurs because coupling the donation with public recognition creates ambiguity about whether people are donating because they are altruistic, or because they want recognition.
ISSN:1076-898X
1939-2192
DOI:10.1037/xap0000261