A typology of blood donor motivations

Abstract

Background Although the need for whole blood is declining, so too are the number of first‐time and repeat blood donors. To develop new recruitment and retention strategies, therefore, we need to draw on as wide a variation in blood donor motivations as possible. The primary aim of this study is to draw on a large survey of donors to develop a broad, theoretically instantiated typology of donor motivations to identify new and less common, yet practically important, motivations that have not been previously reported. Study Design and Methods Using data from the UK Blood Donor Survey run by NHS Blood and Transplant/Public Health England Epidemiology Unit (N = 61 123 donors), we analyze fixed (N = 52 225) and free (N = 8867) responses to develop a more comprehensive typology of blood donor motivations based on theories from the biology, psychology, philosophy, economics, and sociology of altruism. Results We identified 54 motivations, including a number of newly identified motivations, for blood donations which we organized into 12 superordinate categories (eg, “inspiration via moral elevation,” “perceived social closeness,” and “fungibility of donations”). These are linked to intervention suggestions such as donating blood in memoriam or donating blood as an alternative to other charitable acts. Conclusion We present the most comprehensive account of blood donor motivations to‐date. This work also offers a structure for coding free‐text responses, developing motivational measures, and identifying tangible interventions. Thus, we feel that this is a valuable resource for blood donor researchers, marketers, and policy makers.

Motivators of and barriers to becoming a COVID‐19 convalescent plasma donor: A survey study

“…This could be effectively applied in recruiting new donors in a general advertisement and could be adapted slightly for those who have been treated with convalescent plasma and who are now eligible to donate (e.g., “as someone who had convalescent plasma, and is now recovered, would you be willing to help others in a similar position?”). This would also tap into the idea of advantageous inequality aversion that has been highlighted as a motivation for donating blood 56 …”

Strategies and theories to attract and retain blood donors: fairness, reciprocity, equity and warm‐glow

“…However, Ferguson et al . [10] identified forms of direct and indirect reciprocity that are possible.…”

The Social Contagion of Blood Donations: Sustaining Repeated Prosocial Behaviour

“…Awareness of need has been identified as a central factor motivating prosocial behaviour in empirical studies of charitable giving (Bekkers and Wiepking 2011;van Teunenbroek, Bekkers, and Beersma 2020), and awareness of need for blood donations is also among frequently self-reported motivations for donating blood (Ferguson, Hill, et al 2020). So far, however, there is no quantitative evidence for the effect of donations of others on awareness of need, and for how awareness of need affects blood donation behaviour.…”