Through in-depth interviews with 52 blood donors, this study offers a new mechanism for conceptualising donor identity and behaviour that can help increase uptake.
The problem
Identity is a useful lens to understand donor behaviour, but studies have typically conceptualised donor identity as generic. When it comes to attracting new donors, this over-simplification means missing out on many potential donors whose motivations fall outside this picture.
The research
Through in-depth interviews with 52 blood donors, this study discovered a more complex understanding of donor identity and the implications for marketing communications around donation of the self (eg blood, organs, time). The team came up with four identities: Savior, Communitarian, Pragmatist and Elitist (underpinned by theories of gift-giving, sharing, pragmatism, signalling), and showed that aligning messages with these nuanced identities has better results. The Savior, for example, understands their contribution as a 'gift of life', and so responds to messages in this vein; for pragmatists, it's 'just what you do'.
The impact
The study offers a new mechanism for conceptualising donor identity and behaviour. It provides both evidence and a framework for why different messages work, or don't, with certain people. This can influence how blood services treat and engage with potential donors to increase uptake, while also validating marketing communications already underway.
Department: Management and Marketing
Area: Donor identity and behaviour
Researchers
Sustainable Development Goals
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