Framing and Informing: Experiments in Donation Behaviour from the Lab and Field

Almond, Rhosyn (2021) Framing and Informing: Experiments in Donation Behaviour from the Lab and Field. Doctoral thesis, University of East Anglia.

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Abstract

In this thesis we investigate charitable donation behaviour in the context of a food bank charity, which supplies support to those in crisis through the provision of food parcels.

In Chapter 1, we explore how worthiness framing influences donations to the FoodBank. There is contention around the worthiness of welfare recipients, and the majority of those in receipt of the FoodBank food parcels are welfare recipients on low incomes. As people prefer to donate to worthy causes, we challenged the stereotypes around the undeserving poor and measured the effect of this framing on donation level and rate. Our worthiness framing led to an increase in the size of cash donations made to the charity, but only from those whose perceptions were the most challenged by the framing. We add to the literature on the interaction between beliefs and donation behaviour.

In Chapter 2 we study the donation of tangible items to the FoodBank. Due to information asymmetry between the charity and potential donors about the specific items that are needed, there are inefficiencies. We conduct a novel experiment measuring in-store donations to the FoodBank in two stores of a large supermarket chain, and implement an information campaign to increase the donation of the most needed items. We show that reducing the information asymmetry increases the donation of the most needed items, but not systematically so. We add to the understudied _eld of in-kind donations with our rich dataset on donations in the field.

In Chapter 3 we further our exploration of tangible donations, with an expanded intervention in the form of a randomised control trial across 18 stores of a supermarket chain. We again measure in-store donation, but with a larger information campaign soliciting donations to the FoodBank. We find that highlighting the information campaign with posters and shelf-level signage is effective in increasing the donation of high demand products.

Item Type:	Thesis (Doctoral)
Faculty \ School:	Faculty of Social Sciences > School of Economics
Depositing User:	Chris White
Date Deposited:	08 Jun 2022 10:23
Last Modified:	08 Jun 2022 10:23
URI:	https://ueaeprints.uea.ac.uk/id/eprint/85465
DOI:

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