IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/kap/jbuset/v150y2018i4d10.1007_s10551-016-3203-x.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Encouraging Consumer Charitable Behavior: The Impact of Charitable Motivations, Gratitude, and Materialism

Author

Listed:
  • Dora E. Bock

    (Auburn University)

  • Jacqueline K. Eastman

    (Georgia Southern University)

  • Kevin L. Eastman

    (Georgia Southern University)

Abstract

The United States is one of the most charitable nations, yet comprises some of the most materialistic citizens in the world. Interestingly, little is known about how the consumer trait of materialism, as well as the opposing moral trait of gratitude, influences charitable giving. We address this gap in the literature by theorizing and empirically testing that the effects of these consumer traits on charitable behavior can be explained by diverse motivations. We discuss the theoretical implications, along with implications for charitable organizations, and offer suggestions for future research.

Suggested Citation

  • Dora E. Bock & Jacqueline K. Eastman & Kevin L. Eastman, 2018. "Encouraging Consumer Charitable Behavior: The Impact of Charitable Motivations, Gratitude, and Materialism," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 150(4), pages 1213-1228, July.
    • Handle: RePEc:kap:jbuset:v:150:y:2018:i:4:d:10.1007_s10551-016-3203-x
    DOI: 10.1007/s10551-016-3203-x
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://link.springer.com/10.1007/s10551-016-3203-x
    File Function: Abstract
    Download Restriction: Access to full text is restricted to subscribers.
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1007/s10551-016-3203-x?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to search for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Soňa Lemrová & Eva Reiterová & Renáta Fatěnová & Karel Lemr & Thomas Tang, 2014. "Money is Power: Monetary Intelligence—Love of Money and Temptation of Materialism Among Czech University Students," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 125(2), pages 329-348, December.
    2. Belk, Russell W, 1985. "Materialism: Trait Aspects of Living in the Material World," Journal of Consumer Research, Journal of Consumer Research Inc., vol. 12(3), pages 265-280, December.
    3. Harbaugh, William T, 1998. "The Prestige Motive for Making Charitable Transfers," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 88(2), pages 277-282, May.
    4. Strizhakova, Yuliya & Coulter, Robin A., 2013. "The “green” side of materialism in emerging BRIC and developed markets: The moderating role of global cultural identity," International Journal of Research in Marketing, Elsevier, vol. 30(1), pages 69-82.
    5. Tobacyk, Jerome J. & Babin, Barry J. & Attaway, Jill S. & Socha, Stanislaw & Shows, David & James, Kevin, 2011. "Materialism through the eyes of Polish and American consumers," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 64(9), pages 944-950, September.
    6. Long-Chuan Lu & Chia-Ju Lu, 2010. "Moral Philosophy, Materialism, and Consumer Ethics: An Exploratory Study in Indonesia," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 94(2), pages 193-210, June.
    7. Félix Muñoz-García, 2011. "Competition for status acquisition in public good games," Oxford Economic Papers, Oxford University Press, vol. 63(3), pages 549-567, July.
    8. Ger, Guliz & Belk, Russell W., 1996. "Cross-cultural differences in materialism," Journal of Economic Psychology, Elsevier, vol. 17(1), pages 55-77, February.
    9. Richins, Marsha L & Dawson, Scott, 1992. "A Consumer Values Orientation for Materialism and Its Measurement: Scale Development and Validation," Journal of Consumer Research, Journal of Consumer Research Inc., vol. 19(3), pages 303-316, December.
    10. Lynne Andersson & Robert Giacalone & Carole Jurkiewicz, 2007. "On the relationship of hope and gratitude to corporate social responsibility," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 70(4), pages 401-409, February.
    11. Shrum, L.J. & Wong, Nancy & Arif, Farrah & Chugani, Sunaina K. & Gunz, Alexander & Lowrey, Tina M. & Nairn, Agnes & Pandelaere, Mario & Ross, Spencer M. & Ruvio, Ayalla & Scott, Kristin & Sundie, Jill, 2013. "Reconceptualizing materialism as identity goal pursuits: Functions, processes, and consequences," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 66(8), pages 1179-1185.
    12. Denni Arli & Fandy Tjiptono, 2014. "The End of Religion? Examining the Role of Religiousness, Materialism, and Long-Term Orientation on Consumer Ethics in Indonesia," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 123(3), pages 385-400, September.
    13. Griffin, Mitch & Babin, Barry J. & Christensen, Finn, 2004. "A cross-cultural investigation of the materialism construct: Assessing the Richins and Dawson's materialism scale in Denmark, France and Russia," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 57(8), pages 893-900, August.
    14. M. Sirgy & Eda Gurel-Atay & Dave Webb & Muris Cicic & Melika Husic & Ahmet Ekici & Andreas Herrmann & Ibrahim Hegazy & Dong-Jin Lee & J. Johar, 2012. "Linking Advertising, Materialism, and Life Satisfaction," Social Indicators Research: An International and Interdisciplinary Journal for Quality-of-Life Measurement, Springer, vol. 107(1), pages 79-101, May.
    15. Richins, Marsha L, 1994. "Special Possessions and the Expression of Material Values," Journal of Consumer Research, Journal of Consumer Research Inc., vol. 21(3), pages 522-533, December.
    16. Simona Romani & Silvia Grappi & Richard Bagozzi, 2013. "Explaining Consumer Reactions to Corporate Social Responsibility: The Role of Gratitude and Altruistic Values," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 114(2), pages 193-206, May.
    17. Rafi Chowdhury & Mario Fernando, 2013. "The Role of Spiritual Well-Being and Materialism in Determining Consumers’ Ethical Beliefs: An Empirical Study with Australian Consumers," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 113(1), pages 61-79, March.
    18. Kilbourne, William & Pickett, Gregory, 2008. "How materialism affects environmental beliefs, concern, and environmentally responsible behavior," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 61(9), pages 885-893, September.
    19. Xinshu Zhao & John G. Lynch & Qimei Chen, 2010. "Reconsidering Baron and Kenny: Myths and Truths about Mediation Analysis," Journal of Consumer Research, Journal of Consumer Research Inc., vol. 37(2), pages 197-206, August.
    20. Cagri S. Kumru & Lise Vesterlund, 2010. "The Effect of Status on Charitable Giving," Journal of Public Economic Theory, Association for Public Economic Theory, vol. 12(4), pages 709-735, August.
    21. Belk, Russell W & Coon, Gregory S, 1993. "Gift Giving as Agapic Love: An Alternative to the Exchange Paradigm Based on Dating Experiences," Journal of Consumer Research, Journal of Consumer Research Inc., vol. 20(3), pages 393-417, December.
    22. Wendy Liu & Jennifer Aaker, 2008. "The Happiness of Giving: The Time-Ask Effect," Journal of Consumer Research, Journal of Consumer Research Inc., vol. 35(3), pages 543-557, May.
    23. Karabati, Serdar & Cemalcilar, Zeynep, 2010. "Values, materialism, and well-being: A study with Turkish university students," Journal of Economic Psychology, Elsevier, vol. 31(4), pages 624-633, August.
    24. Khalil, Elias L., 2004. "What is altruism?," Journal of Economic Psychology, Elsevier, vol. 25(1), pages 97-123, February.
    25. Pitts, Robert E. & Skelly, Gerald U., 1984. "Economic self-interest and other motivational factors underlying charitable giving," Journal of Behavioral Economics, Elsevier, vol. 13(2), pages 93-109.
    26. Kilbourne, William & Grünhagen, Marko & Foley, Janice, 2005. "A cross-cultural examination of the relationship between materialism and individual values," Journal of Economic Psychology, Elsevier, vol. 26(5), pages 624-641, October.
    27. Liu, Wendy & Aaker, Jennifer L., 2008. "The Happiness of Giving: The Time-Ask Effect," Research Papers 1998, Stanford University, Graduate School of Business.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Rahimah, Anni & Khalil, Shadab & Dang, Huu Phuc & Ming-Sung Cheng, Julian, 2020. "The terror of death and consumers’ sustainability attitudes," Journal of Retailing and Consumer Services, Elsevier, vol. 57(C).
    2. Keval Amin & Erica Harris, 2022. "The Effect of Investor Sentiment on Nonprofit Donations," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 175(2), pages 427-450, January.
    3. Islam Elgammal & Obaid Al-Modaf, 2023. "The Antecedent of the Sustainable Purchasing Attitudes among Generation Z: A Terror Management Theory Perspective," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 15(12), pages 1-19, June.
    4. Başak Uçanok Tan, 2023. "Effects of Materialist Values and Work Centrality on Organizational Citizenship Behaviors," SAGE Open, , vol. 13(4), pages 21582440231, December.
    5. Francine Zanin Bagatini & E. R. D. Vaz & A. C. Petkowicz & K. Basso & J. Pauli, 2022. "Do materialistic individuals donate less? Exploring the moderating effect of the need to belong in monetary donations to volunteering groups," International Review on Public and Nonprofit Marketing, Springer;International Association of Public and Non-Profit Marketing, vol. 19(4), pages 805-818, December.
    6. Nathalie Spielmann, 2021. "Green is the New White: How Virtue Motivates Green Product Purchase," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 173(4), pages 759-776, November.
    7. Juliane Proelss & Denis Schweizer & Tingyu Zhou, 2021. "Economics of philanthropy—evidence from health crowdfunding," Small Business Economics, Springer, vol. 57(2), pages 999-1026, August.
    8. Samuel Lins & João Areias & Rita Castro & Sibele Aquino, 2022. "What basic human values influence impulse buying and status consumption," Italian Journal of Marketing, Springer, vol. 2022(2), pages 233-248, June.

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Ryoo, Yuhosua & Sung, Yongjun & Chechelnytska, Inna, 2020. "What makes materialistic consumers more ethical? Self-benefit vs. other-benefit appeals," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 110(C), pages 173-183.
    2. Gong Sun & Wangshuai Wang & Zhiming Cheng & Jie Li & Junhua Chen, 2017. "The Intermediate Linkage Between Materialism and Luxury Consumption: Evidence from the Emerging Market of China," Social Indicators Research: An International and Interdisciplinary Journal for Quality-of-Life Measurement, Springer, vol. 132(1), pages 475-487, May.
    3. Justyna Kramarczyk & Mathieu Alemany Oliver, 2022. "Accumulative vs. Appreciative Expressions of Materialism: Revising Materialism in Light of Polish Simplifiers and New Materialism," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 175(4), pages 701-719, February.
    4. Elodie Gentina & L. J. Shrum & Tina M. Lowrey & Scott J. Vitell & Gregory M. Rose, 2018. "An Integrative Model of the Influence of Parental and Peer Support on Consumer Ethical Beliefs: The Mediating Role of Self-Esteem, Power, and Materialism," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 150(4), pages 1173-1186, July.
    5. Bagozzi, Richard P. & Ruvio, Ayalla A. & Xie, Chunyan, 2020. "The material self," International Journal of Research in Marketing, Elsevier, vol. 37(4), pages 661-677.
    6. Kapferer, Jean-Noël & Valette-Florence, Pierre, 2019. "How self-success drives luxury demand: An integrated model of luxury growth and country comparisons," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 102(C), pages 273-287.
    7. Strizhakova, Yuliya & Coulter, Robin A., 2013. "The “green” side of materialism in emerging BRIC and developed markets: The moderating role of global cultural identity," International Journal of Research in Marketing, Elsevier, vol. 30(1), pages 69-82.
    8. Karabati, Serdar & Cemalcilar, Zeynep, 2010. "Values, materialism, and well-being: A study with Turkish university students," Journal of Economic Psychology, Elsevier, vol. 31(4), pages 624-633, August.
    9. Elodie Gentina & L. J. Shrum & Tina M. Lowrey, 2018. "Coping with Loneliness Through Materialism: Strategies Matter for Adolescent Development of Unethical Behaviors," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 152(1), pages 103-122, September.
    10. Marianela Denegri & María Baeza & Natalia Salinas-Oñate & Verónica Peñaloza & Horacio Miranda & Ligia Orellana, 2014. "Materialism in Pedagogy Students in Chile," Social Indicators Research: An International and Interdisciplinary Journal for Quality-of-Life Measurement, Springer, vol. 117(2), pages 505-521, June.
    11. Liselot Hudders & Mario Pandelaere, 2012. "The Silver Lining of Materialism: The Impact of Luxury Consumption on Subjective Well-Being," Journal of Happiness Studies, Springer, vol. 13(3), pages 411-437, June.
    12. Afzaal Ali & Guo Xiaoling & Adnan Ali & Mehkar Sherwani & Farhan Muhammad Muneeb, 2019. "Customer motivations for sustainable consumption: Investigating the drivers of purchase behavior for a green‐luxury car," Business Strategy and the Environment, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 28(5), pages 833-846, July.
    13. Shino Takayama & Yuki Tamura & Terence Yeo, 2019. "Primaries, Strategic Voters and Heterogenous Valences," Discussion Papers Series 605, School of Economics, University of Queensland, Australia.
    14. Michael S. W. Lee & Christie Seo Youn Ahn, 2016. "Anti-consumption, Materialism, and Consumer Well-being," Journal of Consumer Affairs, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 50(1), pages 18-47, March.
    15. Jaspers, Esther, 2018. "Opening up on consumer materialism," Other publications TiSEM a21cb1c8-5af1-46cc-9ea0-a, Tilburg University, School of Economics and Management.
    16. Juelin Yin & Lixian Qian & Anusorn Singhapakdi, 2018. "Sharing Sustainability: How Values and Ethics Matter in Consumers’ Adoption of Public Bicycle-Sharing Scheme," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 149(2), pages 313-332, May.
    17. Andrew M. Baker & George P. Moschis & Fon Sim Ong & Ra-Pee Pattanapanyasat, 2013. "Materialism and Life Satisfaction: The Role of Stress and Religiosity," Journal of Consumer Affairs, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 47(3), pages 548-563, November.
    18. Sandra Awanis & Bodo B Schlegelmilch & Charles Chi Cui, 2017. "Asia’s materialists: Reconciling collectivism and materialism," Journal of International Business Studies, Palgrave Macmillan;Academy of International Business, vol. 48(8), pages 964-991, October.
    19. Lingguo Xu & Peter E. Earl & D. S. Prasada Rao, 2019. "Materialism and Economic Progress," Discussion Papers Series 604, School of Economics, University of Queensland, Australia.
    20. Davidson, Alexander & Habibi, Mohammad Reza & Laroche, Michel, 2018. "Materialism and the sharing economy: A cross-cultural study of American and Indian consumers," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 82(C), pages 364-372.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:kap:jbuset:v:150:y:2018:i:4:d:10.1007_s10551-016-3203-x. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Sonal Shukla or Springer Nature Abstracting and Indexing (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.springer.com .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.