Hey Look at Me: The Effect of Giving Circles on Giving
23 Pages Posted: 31 Jan 2012
There are 3 versions of this paper
Hey Look at Me: The Effect of Giving Circles on Giving
Hey Look at Me: The Effect of Giving Circles on Giving
Date Written: January 2012
Abstract
Theories abound for why individuals give to charity. We conduct a field experiment with donors to a Yale University service club to test the impact of a promise of public recognition on giving. Some may claim that they respond to an offer of public recognition not to improve their social standing, but rather to motivate others to give. To tease apart these two theories, we conduct a laboratory experiment with undergraduates, and found no evidence to support the alternative, altruistic motivation. We conclude that charitable gifts increase in response to the promise of public recognition primarily because of individuals' desire to improve their social image.
Keywords: experiments, prosocial behavior, social image, voluntary contributions
JEL Classification: C90, D64, L30
Suggested Citation: Suggested Citation
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