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Does charity affect economic bargaining? Exploring gender × social distance interactions

Mario Testa (Department of Management and Innovation Systems, University of Salerno, Fisciano (SA), Italy)
Antonio D’Amato (Department of Economics and Statistics, University of Salerno, Fisciano (SA), Italy)

Social Responsibility Journal

ISSN: 1747-1117

Article publication date: 12 December 2018

Issue publication date: 22 January 2020

298

Abstract

Purpose

In recent years, it is increasingly common to find situations in which economic or financial decisions are combined with philanthropic or charity issues (for example, “pay what you can”, cause-related marketing initiatives and micro-insurance). How do people behave in these situations? This study aims to analyze whether charity impacts agents’ economic behavior and which factors (gender and social distance) influence these decisions.

Design/methodology/approach

Using a modified one-period ultimatum game that includes a charitable giving variable, the authors investigate agents’ behavior in economic decisions when philanthropic issues are considered, and they compare this behavior to purely economic negotiation without explicit philanthropic relevance. Using a sample of 352 undergraduate business students, the authors explore the interaction effect between gender and social distance on giving behavior.

Findings

The results of this study show that women offer more than men when philanthropic motivation is involved. However, the solicitation of a charitable sentiment is not an element that substantially shifts the offers beyond the value considered to be economically fair. Finally, women and men are both susceptible to self-image concerns.

Research limitations/implications

The results enable a more nuanced interpretation of gender differences in economic decisions when philanthropic or charity issues are involved. From a practical perspective, the findings could offer insights relevant to for-profit and non-profit organizations when they plan to provide products, services or investments with positive moral connotations or when they plan fundraising strategies.

Originality/value

Unlike existing laboratory studies, this study focuses on the effects that charity has on economic/financial decisions by exploring the interaction effect between the decision-maker’s gender and social distance on the outcome of the negotiation.

Keywords

Citation

Testa, M. and D’Amato, A. (2020), "Does charity affect economic bargaining? Exploring gender × social distance interactions", Social Responsibility Journal, Vol. 16 No. 1, pp. 109-128. https://doi.org/10.1108/SRJ-04-2018-0104

Publisher

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Emerald Publishing Limited

Copyright © 2018, Emerald Publishing Limited

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