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Deadlines, Procrastination, and Forgetting in Charitable Tasks: A Field Experiment

Author

Listed:
  • Knowles, Stephen
  • Servátka, Maroš
  • Sullivan, Trudy
  • Genç, Murat

Abstract

We conduct a field experiment to test theoretical predictions regarding the effect of deadline length on task completion. We place our test in a charitable task setting in which participants are invited to complete an online survey, with a donation going to charity if they do so. Participants are given either one week, one month or no deadline by which to respond. Completions are lowest for the one month deadline and highest when no deadline is specified. Our results point out that a short deadline, and not specifying a deadline, signals urgency. By contrast, providing a longer (one month) deadline gives people permission to procrastinate, with people ultimately forgetting to complete the task.

Suggested Citation

  • Knowles, Stephen & Servátka, Maroš & Sullivan, Trudy & Genç, Murat, 2017. "Deadlines, Procrastination, and Forgetting in Charitable Tasks: A Field Experiment," MPRA Paper 83694, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    • Handle: RePEc:pra:mprapa:83694
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. Matthew Rabin & Ted O'Donoghue, 1999. "Doing It Now or Later," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 89(1), pages 103-124, March.
    2. Karlan, Dean & List, John A. & Shafir, Eldar, 2011. "Small matches and charitable giving: Evidence from a natural field experiment," Journal of Public Economics, Elsevier, vol. 95(5), pages 344-350.
    3. Huck, Steffen & Rasul, Imran, 2011. "Matched fundraising: Evidence from a natural field experiment," Journal of Public Economics, Elsevier, vol. 95(5-6), pages 351-362, June.
    4. Susan Athey & Guido Imbens, 2016. "The Econometrics of Randomized Experiments," Papers 1607.00698, arXiv.org.
    5. Damgaard, Mette Trier & Gravert, Christina, 2017. "Now or never! The effect of deadlines on charitable giving: Evidence from two natural field experiments," Journal of Behavioral and Experimental Economics (formerly The Journal of Socio-Economics), Elsevier, vol. 66(C), pages 78-87.
    6. Knowles, Stephen & Servátka, Maroš, 2015. "Transaction costs, the opportunity cost of time and procrastination in charitable giving," Journal of Public Economics, Elsevier, vol. 125(C), pages 54-63.
    7. Keith Marzilli Ericson, 2017. "On the Interaction of Memory and Procrastination: Implications for Reminders, Deadlines, and Empirical Estimation," Journal of the European Economic Association, European Economic Association, vol. 15(3), pages 692-719.
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    Cited by:

    1. Filo, Kevin & Fechner, David & Inoue, Yuhei, 2020. "Charity sport event participants and fundraising: An examination of constraints and negotiation strategies," Sport Management Review, Elsevier, vol. 23(3), pages 387-400.
    2. Michael Levere & David Wittenburg & Heinrich Hock & John T. Jones, "undated". "Using Behavioral Outreach to Counteract Administrative Burden and Encourage Take-Up of Simplified Disability Payment Rules," Mathematica Policy Research Reports 0c17d5c1847d453091eb6356c, Mathematica Policy Research.

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    charitable tasks; charitable giving; deadline; procrastination; forgetting; imperfect memory; inattention; field experiment;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • C93 - Mathematical and Quantitative Methods - - Design of Experiments - - - Field Experiments
    • D64 - Microeconomics - - Welfare Economics - - - Altruism; Philanthropy; Intergenerational Transfers

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