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Studying Food Reward and Motivation in Humans

Studying Food Reward and Motivation in Humans

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Unit asking: a method to boost donations and beyond.

Christopher K Hsee¹, Jiao Zhang, Zoe Y Lu

¹1Booth School of Business, University of Chicago.

Psychological Science

|August 3, 2013

Summary

A simple "unit-asking" method significantly boosts charitable donations by first asking donors about a hypothetical amount for one person. This psychological science technique increases giving for groups and has broad applications.

Keywords:

decision making judgment

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Methods for Presenting Real-world Objects Under Controlled Laboratory Conditions

Methods for Presenting Real-world Objects Under Controlled Laboratory Conditions

Published on: June 21, 2019

Area of Science:

Behavioral Economics
Psychological Science
Marketing and Fundraising

Background:

Charitable donation solicitation incurs significant annual costs.
Existing fundraising methods can be costly and complex.
Understanding psychological drivers of charitable giving is crucial.

Purpose of the Study:

To introduce a virtually costless method for increasing charitable donations.
To investigate the effectiveness of a 'unit-asking' technique in fundraising.
To explore the psychological underpinnings of the unit-asking effect.

Main Methods:

Implemented a 'unit-asking' method: donors first hypothetically allocate funds for one needy person, then for the group.
Conducted research in real-world fundraising events and scenario-based studies.
Compared the unit-asking method against traditional fundraising approaches.

Main Results:

The unit-asking method significantly increased donations for the group of needy persons.
This effect was observed in both paper-based and web-based fundraising scenarios.
The unit-asking effect is distinct from foot-in-the-door and identifiable-victim effects, stemming from initial scope insensitivity followed by scope consistency.

Conclusions:

A subtle psychological manipulation, the unit-asking method, offers a cost-effective way to boost charitable giving.
The findings have implications beyond fundraising, applicable to auctions and budget proposals.
Psychological science can yield substantial real-world impacts on financial contributions.