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An experiment on donations, personal stories, and bad luck

Author

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  • Bar-El, Ronen
  • Hatsor, Limor
  • Snir, Avichai

Abstract

We conducted two fundraising experiments to study the effects (1) of compassion towards the beneficiary, and (2) of giving participants an opportunity to attribute small donations to luck. We find that exposing the participants to a plea to help the beneficiary increases the average donation. Giving participants an opportunity to attribute small donations to luck decreases the average donation. We find that in our setting, the latter effect dominates.

Suggested Citation

  • Bar-El, Ronen & Hatsor, Limor & Snir, Avichai, 2024. "An experiment on donations, personal stories, and bad luck," European Journal of Political Economy, Elsevier, vol. 84(C).
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:poleco:v:84:y:2024:i:c:s0176268023000253
    DOI: 10.1016/j.ejpoleco.2023.102381
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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Charity; Donations; Experiment; Fundraising; Expressive; Behavior; Lottery;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • C91 - Mathematical and Quantitative Methods - - Design of Experiments - - - Laboratory, Individual Behavior
    • D64 - Microeconomics - - Welfare Economics - - - Altruism; Philanthropy; Intergenerational Transfers
    • D91 - Microeconomics - - Micro-Based Behavioral Economics - - - Role and Effects of Psychological, Emotional, Social, and Cognitive Factors on Decision Making
    • L31 - Industrial Organization - - Nonprofit Organizations and Public Enterprise - - - Nonprofit Institutions; NGOs; Social Entrepreneurship

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