PRESS-NEWS.org - Press Release Distribution
PRESS RELEASES DISTRIBUTION

Slacktivism: 'Liking' on Facebook may mean less giving

2013-11-08
(Press-News.org) Contact information: Andrew Riley
andrew.riley@sauder.ubc.ca
604-306-7137
University of British Columbia
Slacktivism: 'Liking' on Facebook may mean less giving Would-be donors skip giving when offered the chance to show public support for charities in social media, a new study from the University of British Columbia's Sauder School of Business finds.

"Charities incorrectly assume that connecting with people through social media always leads to more meaningful support," says Sauder PhD student Kirk Kristofferson, who co-authored the forthcoming Journal of Consumer Research article.

"Our research shows that if people are able to declare support for a charity publicly in social media it can actually make them less likely to donate to the cause later on."

The study results add fuel to recent assertions that social media platforms are turning people into "slacktivists" by making it easy for them to associate with a cause without committing resources to support it.

In a series of studies, researchers invited participants to engage in an initial act of free support for a cause – joining a Facebook group, accepting a poppy, pin or magnet or signing a petition. Participants were then asked to donate money or volunteer.

They found that the more public the token show of endorsement, the less likely participants are to provide meaningful support later. If participants were provided with the chance to express token support more privately, such as confidentially signing a petition, they were more likely to give later.

The researchers suggest this occurs because giving public endorsement satisfies the desire to look good to others, reducing the urgency to give later. Providing token support in private leads people to perceive their values are aligned with the cause without the payoff of having people witness it.

With the holiday season being the biggest fundraising period of the year, the researchers say it is vital that charities take another look at their strategies and plan appropriately.

INFORMATION:

Background

The study The Nature of Slacktivism: How the Social Observability of an Initial Act of Token Support Affects Subsequent Prosocial Action, was co-authored by Sauder School of Business Associate Professor Katherine White and Florida State University Associate Professor John Peloza.

Additional quote

"If charities run public token campaigns under the belief that they lead to meaningful support, they may be sacrificing their precious resources in vain," says Kristofferson. "If the goal is to generate real support, public facing social media campaigns may be a mistake."

The study was published online November 6 and can be found at: http://www.jstor.org/stable/info/10.1086/674137

END



ELSE PRESS RELEASES FROM THIS DATE:

Tracking young salmon's first moves in the ocean

2013-11-08
Tracking young salmon's first moves in the ocean Knowledge informs efforts to restore endangered salmon stocks RICHLAND, Wash. – Basic ocean conditions such as current directions and water temperature play a huge role in determining the behavior of ...

Dartmouth researchers shed new light on dark energy, cosmic speed-up

2013-11-07
Dartmouth researchers shed new light on dark energy, cosmic speed-up Study uses Big Bang afterglow to show Earth has no special place in expanding universe In a new study, Dartmouth researchers rule out a controversial theory that the accelerating expansion of the ...

OU natural products discovery group asks for public's help with citizen science program

2013-11-07
OU natural products discovery group asks for public's help with citizen science program Crowdsourcing engages the public in the scientific process and enhances drug discovery The University of Oklahoma Natural Products Discovery Group has taken an unconventional approach ...

Study shows that parenting improves with coaching via cell phone

2013-11-07
Study shows that parenting improves with coaching via cell phone n the first randomized trial of the effects of cell phone use, University of Kansas and Notre Dame researchers found that when parenting coaches texted and called mothers who had participated in a ...

MU researchers determine televised presidential debates help moderates choose candidates

2013-11-07
MU researchers determine televised presidential debates help moderates choose candidates COLUMBIA, Mo. – Televised presidential debates have been a staple of the political landscape for more than 50 years. Starting in 1960 with John F. Kennedy and Richard ...

Saddling up against the threat to our National Parks

2013-11-07
Saddling up against the threat to our National Parks The growing threat to our National Parks from horse dung Research team leader, Associate Professor Catherine Pickering, said the Griffith study looked at the number and types of weed seeds which can be dispersed ...

BPA in dialysis machine components may be toxic to patients' cells

2013-11-07
BPA in dialysis machine components may be toxic to patients' cells Atlanta, GA (November 7, 2013)—Levels of bisphenol A (BPA) in components of dialysis machines may be toxic to the immune cells circulating in kidney failure patients' blood, according ...

Consuming more vegetable protein may help kidney disease patients live longer

2013-11-07
Consuming more vegetable protein may help kidney disease patients live longer Atlanta, GA (November 7, 2013)—Increased consumption of vegetable protein was linked with prolonged survival among kidney disease patients in a new a study. The findings will ...

Fountain-of-youth gene repairs tissue damage in adults

2013-11-07
Fountain-of-youth gene repairs tissue damage in adults Young animals recover from tissue damage better than adults, and from Charles Darwin's time until now, scientists have puzzled over why this is the case. A study published by Cell Press November 7th in the journal Cell ...

Social symptoms in autistic children may be caused by hyper-connected neurons

2013-11-07
Social symptoms in autistic children may be caused by hyper-connected neurons The brains of children with autism show more connections than the brains of typically developing children do. What's more, the brains of individuals with the most severe social symptoms are also ...

LAST 30 PRESS RELEASES:

Danforth Plant Science Center adds two new faculty members

Robotic eyes mimic human vision for superfast response to extreme lighting

Racial inequities and access to COVID-19 treatment

Residential segregation and lung cancer risk in African American adults

Scientists wipe out aggressive brain cancer tumors by targeting cellular ‘motors’

Capturability distinction analysis of continuous and pulsed guidance laws

CHEST expands Bridging Specialties Initiative to include NTM disease and bronchiectasis on World Bronchiectasis Day

Exposure to air pollution may cause heart damage

SwRI, UTSA selected by NASA to test electrolyzer technology aboard parabolic flight

Prebiotics might be a factor in preventing or treating issues caused by low brain GABA

Youngest in class at higher risk of mental health problems

American Heart Association announces new volunteer leaders for 2025-26

Gut microbiota analysis can help catch gestational diabetes

FAU’s Paulina DeVito awarded prestigious NSF Graduate Research Fellowship

Champions for change – Paid time off initiative just made clinical trials participation easier

Fentanyl detection through packaging

Prof. Eran Meshorer elected to EMBO for pioneering work in epigenetics

New 3D glacier visualizations provide insights into a hotter Earth

Creativity across disciplines

Consequences of low Antarctic sea ice

Hear here: How loudness and acoustic cues help us judge where a speaker is facing

A unique method of rare-earth recycling can strengthen the raw material independence of Europe and America

Epilepsy self-management program shows promise to control seizures, improve mood and quality of life

Fat may play an important role in brain metabolism

New study finds no lasting impact of pandemic pet ownership on human well-being

New insights on genetic damage of some chemotherapies could guide future treatments with less harmful side effects

Gut microbes could protect us from toxic ‘forever chemicals’

Novel modelling links sea ice loss to Antarctic ice shelf calving events

Scientists can tell how fast you're aging from a single brain scan

U.S. uterine cancer incidence and mortality rates expected to significantly increase by 2050

[Press-News.org] Slacktivism: 'Liking' on Facebook may mean less giving