When altruistic decisions shape egoistic motives : motivation shift in sequential charitable support

Fanggidae, Jappy P. and Jin, Hyun Seung and Kim, Hyoje Jay and Kelly, Louise (2023) When altruistic decisions shape egoistic motives : motivation shift in sequential charitable support. International Journal of Advertising, 42 (6). pp. 1110-1143. ISSN 0265-0487 (https://doi.org/10.1080/02650487.2022.2140962)

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Abstract

Prior studies of sequential moral behaviors suggest that when people believe they have made a moral decision (e.g. engaged in a prosocial act), subsequent decisions would be less moral. This paper investigates the motivation shift hypothesis, suggesting that people’s prosocial behavior is consistent when asked to make subsequent donations; however, their prosocial motivation is inconsistent. To test this hypothesis, two charitable message appeals were used: a message that focuses on the benefits to others (i.e. altruistic other-benefit) and a message that focuses on the donors’ benefits (i.e. egoistic self-benefit). In a pilot study and three experiments, this paper suggests that after agreeing to an altruistic charitable request, people are more generous if they see a self-benefit message appeal. We propose that consumers’ moral status plays a role which increases egoistic motivation in subsequent charitable decisions, following an altruistic charitable giving. This pattern is only observed when the subsequent request is asked by a different charity, as opposed to the same charity.

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