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Publications

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    • All HBS Web  (121)
      • Faculty Publications  (39)

      Charitable Donations Remove Charitable Donations →

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      • March 2022
      • Article

      When Less Is More: Consumers Prefer Brands that Donate More in Relative versus Absolute Terms

      By: Elizabeth A. Keenan, Anne V. Wilson and Leslie K. John
      When trying to make a good impression on consumers through charitable giving, is it better for brands to maximize the overall dollars they donate or how much they give in relative terms; for example, the proportion of profits? Across five studies we show that consumers...  View Details
      Keywords: Cause-related Marketing; Charitable Donations; Generosity; Altruism; Philanthropy and Charitable Giving; Brands and Branding; Consumer Behavior
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      Keenan, Elizabeth A., Anne V. Wilson, and Leslie K. John. "When Less Is More: Consumers Prefer Brands that Donate More in Relative versus Absolute Terms." Marketing Letters 33, no. 1 (March 2022): 31–43.
      • April 2021
      • Case

      The Incentive for Legacy: Tsinghua University Education Foundation

      By: Lauren Cohen, Hao Gao and Spencer C.N. Hagist
      Vivian Yuan seeks to bolster the Tsinghua University Education Foundation's fundraising efforts and investment goals in a new era of Chinese higher education. Competing with elite members of China's C9 League of top universities, she must develop a set of incentives...  View Details
      Keywords: Finance; Marketing; Strategy; Negotiation; Organizations; Markets; Higher Education; Philanthropy and Charitable Giving; Motivation and Incentives; China
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      Cohen, Lauren, Hao Gao, and Spencer C.N. Hagist. "The Incentive for Legacy: Tsinghua University Education Foundation." Harvard Business School Case 221-100, April 2021.
      • March 2021
      • Article

      Opting-in to Prosocial Incentives

      By: Daniel Schwartz, Elizabeth A. Keenan, Alex Imas and Ayelet Gneezy
      The design of effective incentive schemes that are both successful in motivating employees and keeping down costs is of critical importance. Research has demonstrated that prosocial incentives, where individuals’ effort benefits a charitable organization, can sometimes...  View Details
      Keywords: Incentives; Prosocial Behavior; Behavioral Economics; Field Experiments; Recycling; Prosocial Motivation; Decision Making; Motivation and Incentives; Behavior
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      Schwartz, Daniel, Elizabeth A. Keenan, Alex Imas, and Ayelet Gneezy. "Opting-in to Prosocial Incentives." Organizational Behavior and Human Decision Processes 163 (March 2021): 132–141.
      • 2019
      • Working Paper

      Income Inequality Affects Donations Only for High-Income People Who Feel Financially Insecure and Distrust Others

      By: Lucia Macchia and Ashley V. Whillans
      There is a growing debate about whether high-income individuals are more or less generous when income inequality is high. We advance this ongoing conversation by analysing a large and comprehensive data set with approximately one million respondents from 140 countries....  View Details
      Keywords: Income Inequality; Prosocial Behavior; Financial Insecurity; Income; Equality and Inequality; Philanthropy and Charitable Giving; Behavior; Trust
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      Macchia, Lucia, and Ashley V. Whillans. "Income Inequality Affects Donations Only for High-Income People Who Feel Financially Insecure and Distrust Others." Harvard Business School Working Paper, No. 20-052, October 2019. (Shared Authorship.)
      • Article

      Maimonides' Ladder: States of Mutual Knowledge and the Perception of Charitability

      By: Julian De Freitas, Peter DiScioli, Kyle A. Thomas and Steven Pinker
      Why do people esteem anonymous charitable giving? We connect normative theories of charitability (captured in Maimonides’ Ladder of Charity) with evolutionary theories of partner choice to test predictions on how attributions of charitability are affected by states of...  View Details
      Keywords: Charity; Reciprocity; Partner Choice; Common Knowledge; Philanthropy and Charitable Giving; Knowledge; Perception
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      De Freitas, Julian, Peter DiScioli, Kyle A. Thomas, and Steven Pinker. "Maimonides' Ladder: States of Mutual Knowledge and the Perception of Charitability." Journal of Experimental Psychology: General 148, no. 1 (January 2019): 158–173.
      • December 2018
      • Article

      Agentic Appeals Increase Charitable Giving in an Affluent Sample of Donors

      By: Ashley V. Whillans and Elizabeth W. Dunn
      Recent research suggests that affluent individuals adopt agentic self-concepts, striving to stand out from others and to master the environment on their own. The present study provides a road test of this idea, showing that this theorizing can be utilized to increase...  View Details
      Keywords: Philanthropy and Charitable Giving; Wealth; Identity; Behavior; Communication Strategy
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      Whillans, Ashley V., and Elizabeth W. Dunn. "Agentic Appeals Increase Charitable Giving in an Affluent Sample of Donors." PLoS ONE 13, no. 12 (December 2018).
      • March 2018
      • Case

      GoFundMe: The Giving Layer of the Internet

      By: Scott Duke Kominers and Allison M. Ciechanover
      By 2017, GoFundMe is the world’s largest social fundraising platform. Gross donation volume is growing rapidly, yet the number of monthly campaign starts is relatively flat. The CEO contemplates a variety of growth initiatives.  View Details
      Keywords: Growth and Development Strategy; Expansion; Philanthropy and Charitable Giving; Technology Industry
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      Kominers, Scott Duke, and Allison M. Ciechanover. "GoFundMe: The Giving Layer of the Internet." Harvard Business School Case 818-108, March 2018.
      • February 2018
      • Article

      The Impact of a Surprise Donation Ask

      By: Christine L. Exley and Ragan Petrie
      Individuals frequently exploit "flexibility" built into decision environments to give less. They use uncertainty to justify options benefiting themselves over others, they avoid information that may encourage them to give, and they avoid the ask itself. In this paper,...  View Details
      Keywords: Charitable Giving; Prosocial Behavior; Self-serving Biases; Excuses; Philanthropy and Charitable Giving; Behavior
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      Exley, Christine L., and Ragan Petrie. "The Impact of a Surprise Donation Ask." Journal of Public Economics 158 (February 2018): 152–167.
      • December 2017
      • Case

      Charity or Bribery?

      By: Eugene Soltes and Brian Tilley
      Filip Kowalski, a senior manager at the pharmaceutical company Healthgen, leads sales for the firm’s Polish division. While pitching Healthgen’s products, he develops a relationship with a director of a regional health fund who also runs a private foundation. After a...  View Details
      Keywords: Bribery; Crime and Corruption; Law; Ethics; Philanthropy and Charitable Giving; United States; Europe
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      Soltes, Eugene, and Brian Tilley. "Charity or Bribery?" Harvard Business School Case 118-052, December 2017.
      • Article

      Both Selfishness and Selflessness Start with the Self: How Wealth Shapes Responses to Charitable Appeals

      By: A.V. Whillans, E.M. Caruso and E.W. Dunn
      Wealth is associated with differences in people's self-concepts. We propose that these self-concepts should define the types of appeals that are most effective at motivating generosity. Across three field studies, we randomly assigned participants to view an appeal for...  View Details
      Keywords: Philanthropy and Charitable Giving; Wealth; Personal Characteristics; Behavior; Identity
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      Whillans, A.V., E.M. Caruso, and E.W. Dunn. "Both Selfishness and Selflessness Start with the Self: How Wealth Shapes Responses to Charitable Appeals." Journal of Experimental Social Psychology 70 (May 2017): 242–250. (This publication was featured as an "Editor's Choice" at Science in January, 2017.)
      • Article

      Social Recycling Transforms Unwanted Goods into Happiness

      By: Grant Edward Donnelly, Cait Lamberton, Rebecca Walker Reczek and Michael I. Norton
      Consumers are often surrounded by resources that once offered meaning or happiness but that have lost this subjective value over time—even as they retain their objective utility. We explore the potential for social recycling—disposing of used goods by allowing other...  View Details
      Keywords: Disposition; Well-being; Prosocial Behavior; Pro-environmental Behavior; Happiness; Behavior; Philanthropy and Charitable Giving; Environmental Sustainability
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      Donnelly, Grant Edward, Cait Lamberton, Rebecca Walker Reczek, and Michael I. Norton. "Social Recycling Transforms Unwanted Goods into Happiness." Journal of the Association for Consumer Research 2, no. 1 (January 2017): 48–63.
      • Article

      Selfishly Benevolent or Benevolently Selfish? When Self-interest Undermines versus Promotes Prosocial Behavior

      By: Julian Zlatev and Dale T. Miller
      Existing research shows that appeals to self-interest sometimes increase and sometimes decrease prosocial behavior. We propose that this inconsistency is in part due to the framings of these appeals. Different framings generate different salient reference points,...  View Details
      Keywords: Altruism; Charitable Giving; Framing; Prosocial Behavior; Reference Points; Self-interest; Philanthropy and Charitable Giving; Framework; Behavior
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      Zlatev, Julian, and Dale T. Miller. "Selfishly Benevolent or Benevolently Selfish? When Self-interest Undermines versus Promotes Prosocial Behavior." Organizational Behavior and Human Decision Processes 137 (November 2016): 112–122.
      • 2016
      • White Paper

      A Brief Introduction to the Science of Fundraising

      By: A.V. Whillans
      How can the science of philanthropy inform day-to-day fundraising? This brief report explores the usefulness of looking to social science research to enhance fundraising strategies. Drawing on empirical studies from the disciplines of psychology, sociology, and...  View Details
      Keywords: Philanthropy and Charitable Giving; Research; Strategy
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      Whillans, A.V. "A Brief Introduction to the Science of Fundraising." White Paper, Council for Advancement and Support of Education, Washington, DC, May 2016.
      • Article

      Excusing Selfishness in Charitable Giving: The Role of Risk

      By: Christine L. Exley
      Decisions involving charitable giving often occur under the shadow of risk. A common finding is that potential donors give less when there is greater risk that their donation will have less impact. While this behavior could be fully rationalized by standard economic...  View Details
      Keywords: Charitable Giving; Prosocial Behavior; Altruism; Risk Preferences; Risk and Uncertainty; Philanthropy and Charitable Giving; Behavior
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      Exley, Christine L. "Excusing Selfishness in Charitable Giving: The Role of Risk." Review of Economic Studies 83, no. 2 (April 2016): 587–628.
      • November 2015
      • Article

      When Doing Good Is Bad in Gift-giving: Mis-predicting Appreciation of Socially Responsible Gifts

      By: Lisa A. Cavanaugh, F. Gino and Gavan J. Fitzsimons
      Gifts that support a worthy cause (i.e., "gifts that give twice"), such as a charitable donation in the recipient's name, have become increasingly popular. Recipients generally enjoy these gifts, which not only benefit others in need but also make recipients feel good...  View Details
      Keywords: Perception; Philanthropy and Charitable Giving
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      Cavanaugh, Lisa A., F. Gino, and Gavan J. Fitzsimons. "When Doing Good Is Bad in Gift-giving: Mis-predicting Appreciation of Socially Responsible Gifts." Organizational Behavior and Human Decision Processes 131 (November 2015): 178–189.
      • Article

      Contingent Match Incentives Increase Donations

      By: Lalin Anik, Michael I. Norton and Dan Ariely
      We propose a new means by which non-profits can induce donors to give today and commit to giving in the future: contingent match incentives, in which matching is made contingent on the percentage of others who give (e.g., "if X% of others give, we will match all...  View Details
      Keywords: Matching Donations; Social Proof; Prosocial Behavior; Charitable Giving; Plausibility; Motivation and Incentives; Philanthropy and Charitable Giving
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      Anik, Lalin, Michael I. Norton, and Dan Ariely. "Contingent Match Incentives Increase Donations." Journal of Marketing Research (JMR) 51, no. 6 (December 2014): 790–801.
      • Article

      Avoiding Overhead Aversion in Charity

      By: Uri Gneezy, Elizabeth A. Keenan and Ayelet Gneezy
      Donors tend to avoid charities that dedicate a high percentage of expenses to administrative and fundraising costs, limiting the ability of nonprofits to be effective. We propose a solution to this problem: Use donations from major philanthropists to cover overhead...  View Details
      Keywords: Marketing Strategy; Philanthropy and Charitable Giving
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      Gneezy, Uri, Elizabeth A. Keenan, and Ayelet Gneezy. "Avoiding Overhead Aversion in Charity." Science 346, no. 6209 (October 31, 2014): 632–635.
      • 2014
      • Working Paper

      Don't Take 'No' for an Answer: An Experiment with Actual Organ Donor Registrations

      By: Judd B. Kessler and Alvin E. Roth
      Over 10,000 people in the U.S. die each year while waiting for an organ. Attempts to increase organ transplantation have focused on changing the registration question from an opt-in frame to an active choice frame. We analyze this change in California and show it...  View Details
      Keywords: Decision Choices and Conditions; Health Care and Treatment; Philanthropy and Charitable Giving; Health Industry
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      Kessler, Judd B., and Alvin E. Roth. "Don't Take 'No' for an Answer: An Experiment with Actual Organ Donor Registrations." NBER Working Paper Series, No. 20378, August 2014.
      • June 2014 (Revised February 2017)
      • Case

      Kathy Giusti and the Multiple Myeloma Research Foundation

      By: Richard G. Hamermesh, Joshua D. Margolis and Matthew G. Preble
      What do you do when your rising professional career is cut short by an unexpected cancer diagnosis? Kathy Giusti shifted careers, built a new organization that transformed how cancer research is done, and now faces the challenge of sustaining the organization and its...  View Details
      Keywords: Philanthropy; Philanthropy Funding; Entrepreneurship; Health Care; Management Styles; Personalized Medicine; Health Care Outcomes; Cancer; Cancer Care In The U.S.; Personal Care; Leadership; Leading Change; Social Entrepreneurship; Philanthropy and Charitable Giving; Health Care and Treatment; Leadership Style; Management Style; Management Skills; Growth and Development Strategy; Business Strategy; Health; Health Industry; United States; Canada; Spain
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      Hamermesh, Richard G., Joshua D. Margolis, and Matthew G. Preble. "Kathy Giusti and the Multiple Myeloma Research Foundation." Harvard Business School Case 814-026, June 2014. (Revised February 2017.)
      • Article

      Prosocial Bonuses Increase Employee Satisfaction and Team Performance

      By: Lalin Anik, Lara B. Aknin, Elizabeth W. Dunn, Michael I. Norton and Jordi Quoidbach
      In three field studies, we explore the impact of providing employees and teammates with prosocial bonuses, a novel type of bonus spent on others rather than on oneself. In Experiment 1, we show that prosocial bonuses in the form of donations to charity lead to happier...  View Details
      Keywords: Satisfaction; Groups and Teams; Performance; Compensation and Benefits; Philanthropy and Charitable Giving; Banking Industry; Sports Industry; Pharmaceutical Industry; Canada; Belgium; Australia
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      Anik, Lalin, Lara B. Aknin, Elizabeth W. Dunn, Michael I. Norton, and Jordi Quoidbach. "Prosocial Bonuses Increase Employee Satisfaction and Team Performance." PLoS ONE 8, no. 9 (September 2013): 1–8.
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