The double-edged sword of facilitated giving: Field evidence on sales and donations

Maja Adena and Steffen Huck

EconStor Open Access Articles and Book Chapters, 2026, vol. 189, No 105424, 16 pages

Abstract: Facilitated giving, a common yet under-researched form of cause-related marketing (CRM), involves companies collecting donations from customers to support charitable causes. This study examines the impact of facilitated giving on revenue from ticket sales at an opera house through two large-scale field experiments involving over 50,000 customers. The charitable initiative supported a social youth project aimed at enhancing cultural education and social integration for individuals from disadvantaged households. We found that a particularly pervasive donation ask led to a significant short-term reduction in ticket purchases by non-donors. However, this adverse effect was short-lived and we did not find any effect of the program on total revenue from tickets and donations, neither in the short run nor in the long run.

Keywords: Cause-related marketing; Warm glow; Reactance; Ask avoidance; Facilitated giving; Field experiments (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2026
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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:zbw:espost:343492

DOI: 10.1016/j.euroecorev.2026.105424

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