Active Decisions and Prosocial Behaviour: A Field Experiment on Blood Donation

Abstract

Assigning a subjective value to a contribution to a public good often requires reflection. For many reasons, this reflection may be put off, reinforcing the underprovision of public goods. We hypothesise that nudging individuals to reflect on whether to contribute to a public good leads to the formation of issue-specific altruistic preferences. The hypothesis is tested in a large-scale field experiment on blood donations. We find that an Ôactive-decisionÕ intervention substantially increases donations among subjects who had not previously thought about the importance of donating blood. By contrast, contributions of individuals who had previously engaged in such reflection are unchanged.

Provoking Preferences: Unionization, Trade Policy, and the ILWU Puzzle

“…will act in all possible states of the world+ 31 All organizations, therefore, rely on a combination of governance rules, stated principles, and norms to enable members and leaders to form expectations about how the organization will behave over time+ 32 As leaders repeatedly make observable decisions and take positions consistent with stated principles, the organization develops a cultural reputation+ Both Kreps and Miller emphasize that principled actions or positions apparently contrary to immediate economic interests are particularly important for building and sustaining an organizational culture-so long as organizational performance continues to be strong+ As new members join the union, they will likely view the organization's culture as so many norms of behavior+ Initially, we expect that some combination of sanctions and expectations about others will promote compliance+ Over time, however, there is the possibility that the members may come to reconsider their beliefs and preferences as a result of their organizational exposure and socialization+ In keeping with the "active decision" hypothesis of Stutzer, Goette, and Zehnder, 33 they may begin to develop new normative motivations as the basis for their com- 30+ See Arrow 1974;andCoase 1937+ 31+ See Kreps 1990;and Miller 1992+ 32+ Hermalin 2001+ 33+ See Fehr and Hoff 2011and Stutzer, Goette, and Zehnder 2011+ This notion is consistent with other theorists of "endogenous preferences+" See Bicchieri 2006; Brady, Ferejohn, and Pope 2005;and Weingast 2005+ pliance+ In the ILWU context, members who are asked to form an opinion about issues they had not previously considered-or at least had not considered relevant to their union-can be induced to reconsider their beliefs and preferences in light of the union's performance+ 34 Since its 1937 founding, the ILWU has maintained a vigorous and explicit set of " Ten Guiding Principles+" The most relevant to trade are the following two:…”

Comparing the effects of defaults in organ donation systems

“…However, Davidai et al did not evaluate the meaning which people attach to a mandated choice. Research by Stutzer et al (2011) sheds some light on the issue. By means of an experiment for the case of blood donation they show why active choice can induce pro-social behavior, i.e.…”

The Market for Blood

“…Goette, Stutzer, tion (newspaper recognition) among all donors in an Italian town. Goette, Stutzer, and Zehnder (2011), examining 1,838 students, fi nd that requiring people to say and Zehnder (2011), examining 1,838 students, fi nd that requiring people to say …”