CABE Research Seminar - Asymmetric Effect of Time vs. Money Scarcity on Prosocial Behavior

PRESENTER
Assistant Professor Aruna Divya Tatavarthy (Indian Institute of Management Ahmedabad)

TOPIC
Asymmetric Effect of Time vs. Money Scarcity on Prosocial Behavior

DATE AND TIME
Wednesday 9 October 2019,  10:30am - 12.00pm

VENUE
The Spot (198 Berkeley St), Level 10, Room 10.039

ABSTRACT
Individuals perceive time vs. money – the two most critical resources in decision making – as distinct and also systematically differ in their responses to compensating for scarcity. Compensatory behavior arising due to scarcity could either lead to competitive (viz., selfish outcomes) mindset or co-operative mindset (viz., pro-social outcomes). Further, solicitations of time-ask vs. money-ask within prosocial context bring forth significantly different responses from individuals. We build upon such contrasting effects of time vs. money and uncover the asymmetric effect of situational resource scarcity on preference to engage in prosocial causes through volunteering vs. donating. We present evidence from three studies to highlight the effect of time vs. money scarcity on likelihood to engage in prosocial behavior. Specifically, we find that situations of time-scarcity lead to higher perceptions of depletion and subsequently, increase the preference for engaging in prosocial causes as compared to situations of money-scarcity. Further, individuals perceive the compensatory nature of volunteering for prosocial causes to be higher than that of donations. Our research offers actionable recommendations to policymakers, charitable organizations and fund-raisers, to optimally leverage the support of individual volunteers and donors.

BIO
Dr. Aruna Divya T. is a CABE Fellow and Assistant Professor in Marketing, Indian Institute of Management Ahmedabad (IIMA), India. She completed her doctoral degree in Marketing, with a Minor in Economics, from Indian Institute of Management Bangalore (IIMB). Her research lies at the intersection between marketing, behavioural economics and operations management, with topics ranging from pricing, inter-temporal choice, decisions under risk and uncertainty, prosocial behaviour to online reviews, to name a few. She has won research grants and awards for her work on pricing extended warranties, pricing access-based add-on services and exploring drivers of prosocial behaviour. Her interest in understanding prosocial behaviour also aligns with her active engagement with various volunteering activities for non-profit organizations.