What goes around comes around: The effect of belief in karma on charitable donation behavior

Abstract

Karma is the notion that one's current actions will have consequences in the future.The present research links the belief in karma with a guilt appeal and examines how believing in karma influences the individuals' donation behaviors. The results of four studies demonstrate that for people who hold a strong belief in karma, guilt appeals can arouse the motivation to engage in prosocial activities to remedy past demerits.This "remedy demerits" motivation is the reason why individuals who hold a strong (vs. weak) belief in karma are more likely to donate time (rather than money) and donate money in lump sums (rather than in installments) when the charitable appeal is framed in terms of guilt. Our findings contribute to the literature on specific beliefs, individuals' prosocial behaviors, and the motivations of individuals who believe in karma as concerns their responses to charitable appeals. Charitable organizations can apply the findings by targeting their donor solicitations to individuals who believe in karma to enhance engagement in prosocial activities, and by using karma priming advertisements to induce individuals to think karmically, thus more efficiently promoting specific donation choices.

“I do believe in karma”: understanding consumers' pro-environmental consumption with an integrated framework of theory of planned behavior, norm activation model and self-determination theory

“…Mulla and Krishnan (2013) explain that karma does not directly reward or punish individuals, but rather works to restore balance in the energy of the universe that is affected by their actions. Therefore, when an individual involves in behaviors, which align with the natural principles of the universe, such as charitable donations (Chen et al, 2022), sustainable consumption (Duong, 2023b), or social entrepreneurship (Duong, 2023a), karma balances their "good" energy by creating an equivalent amount of positive energy that will favor their future. Despite the widespread acceptance of the concept of karma (Wiese, 2023), studies on its specific effect on consumers' consumption behavior are scant (Chen et al, 2022;Kulow and Kramer, 2016).…”

“…Therefore, when an individual involves in behaviors, which align with the natural principles of the universe, such as charitable donations (Chen et al, 2022), sustainable consumption (Duong, 2023b), or social entrepreneurship (Duong, 2023a), karma balances their "good" energy by creating an equivalent amount of positive energy that will favor their future. Despite the widespread acceptance of the concept of karma (Wiese, 2023), studies on its specific effect on consumers' consumption behavior are scant (Chen et al, 2022;Kulow and Kramer, 2016). This is particularly noteworthy given the current emphasis on understanding the impact of unconventional and irrational beliefs on consumer behavior (Duong, 2023b).…”

“…KB can service as a catalyst in developing consumers' attitudes toward ecological products, whereby consumers who hold stronger KB are more likely to exhibit more positive attitudes toward ecological products compared to those with weaker KB. This effect can be attributed to the notion that KB, rooted in the belief in moral cause and effect (Chen et al, 2022), lead individuals to perceive their consumption choices as having broader consequences on the environment and society (Duong, 2023b). Fundamentally, beliefs in karma similarly embody Consumers' proenvironmental consumption principles of justice motive theory, as they suggest "the karmic universe" determining the karmic-related outcomes which individuals receive based on their actions and input into the universe (Kulow and Kramer, 2016).…”

“…Although karma has its historical origins in ancient religions, such as Buddhism, Hinduism, Jainism, Sikhism and Falun Gong, that back thousands of years (White et al, 2021), it has also become ingrained in secular Western society (Mo et al, 2022). This is evident through common sayings, like "what goes around comes around" and "you reap what you sow" (Chen et al, 2022;Duong, 2023b;Chairy et al, 2020). For example, when studying the beliefs of Canadians through a nationally representative survey, it was found that approximately 40% of respondents scored above the midpoint on the karma scale, indicating a notable acceptance of the concept while this percentage doubles within Indian heritage (Wiese, 2023).…”

The influence of language style (formal vs. colloquial) on the effectiveness of charitable appeals

“…Individuals’ beliefs impact the interpretation of charitable appeals in various ways. For instance, charitable support has been associated with individual differences in belief in karma (Chen et al, 2022; Kulow & Kramer, 2016), dialectical thought (DeMotta, 2021), and motivation for justice (White et al, 2012). Prior research has also indicated that higher just‐world beliefs are tied with helping intentions (Igou et al, 2021) and altruistic behavior (Bègue, 2014).…”