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Does Online Salience Predict Charitable Giving? Evidence from SMS Text Donations

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  • Carlo Perroni
  • Kimberley Ann Scharf
  • Oleksandr Talavera
  • Linh Vi

Abstract

We explore the link between online salience and charitable donations. Using a unique dataset on phone text donations that includes detailed information on the timing of cash gifts to charities, we link donations to time variation in online searches for words that appear in those charities’ mission statements. The results suggest that an increase in the online salience of the activities pursued by different charities affects the number and volume of donations made to those charities and to charities that pursue different goals. We uncover evidence of positive “own-salience” effects and negative “cross-salience” effects on donations.

Suggested Citation

  • Carlo Perroni & Kimberley Ann Scharf & Oleksandr Talavera & Linh Vi, 2021. "Does Online Salience Predict Charitable Giving? Evidence from SMS Text Donations," CESifo Working Paper Series 9436, CESifo.
    • Handle: RePEc:ces:ceswps:_9436
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    2. Julia Cagé & Malka Guillot, 2021. "Is Charitable Giving Political? Evidence from Wealth and Income Tax Returns," SciencePo Working papers Main hal-03877993, HAL.

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    charitable donations; online search; news shocks;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • H41 - Public Economics - - Publicly Provided Goods - - - Public Goods
    • D12 - Microeconomics - - Household Behavior - - - Consumer Economics: Empirical Analysis
    • D64 - Microeconomics - - Welfare Economics - - - Altruism; Philanthropy; Intergenerational Transfers

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