Donations to Charity as Purchase Incentives: How Well They Work May Depend on What You Are Trying to Sell

Abstract

This article focuses on the bundling of products with promised contributions to charity. Two lab experiments and one field study are conducted that compare the effectiveness of promised donations to charity in promoting “practical necessities” (e.g., a box of laundry detergent) to their effectiveness in promoting “frivolous luxuries” (e.g., a hot fudge sundae). The results suggest that charity incentives are more effective in promoting frivolous products than in promoting practical products. This research extends prior work on the effects of bundling complementary positive outcomes into the domain of affect-based complementarity with product-charity bundles.