More People Less Help: How the Beneficiary Number Affects Volunteering Intention?
Abstract
The aim of this study is to examine the interacting role of the beneficiary number and type of donations in eliciting intention to volunteer. We propose that time donation intention is generated more when charities present a single beneficiary image compared with many beneficiaries. We test our prediction in an experimental study participated by undergraduate students. We randomly assigned study participants into a 2 (donation type: time vs. money) x 2 (beneficiary number: one vs. many) between participant experimental design. The dependent variable was an intention to make time donations. We found that when the participants were requested to volunteer, their willingness to donate was enhanced only when they saw a beneficiary in the charitable campaign. However, this effect disappeared when the participants were asked to donate their money. Charity managers may benefit from the findings of this study, in particular on how charities may use different donation types and graphical manifestations to induce more donations. The findings contribute to the prosocial behavior literature by confirming that beneficiary number interacts with different donation types in influencing donation intent.
Keywords: charity, volunteering, beneficiary number effect, perceived responsibility.
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