Nudging Generosity: Choice Architecture and Cognitive Factors in Charitable Giving

Jonathan Schulz (), Petra Thiemann and Christian Thöni

No 11097, IZA Discussion Papers from Institute of Labor Economics (IZA)

Abstract: In an experimental setup we investigate the effect of two different choice architectures on donation decisions. In the treatment group, subjects can either specify a charity of their choice, or select one from a list of five well-known charities; in the control group we do not provide a list. In a sample of 869 subjects we find a large treatment effect: Offering a list of default charities doubles the fraction of donors, as well as the revenue for charities. We find that the treatment intervention particularly affects subjects who tend to make intuitive choices.

Keywords: charitable giving; donation; choice architecture; defaults; affective reactions (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: C93 D64 H41 L3 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Pages: 18 pages
Date: 2017-10
New Economics Papers: this item is included in nep-cbe, nep-exp and nep-soc
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (2)

Published - revised version published in: Journal of Behavioral and Experimental Economics, 2018, 74, 139-145

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Journal Article: Nudging generosity: Choice architecture and cognitive factors in charitable giving (2018)
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