Donation dilemmas: A consumer behaviour perspective

With the aim of developing a better understanding of an individual's donation decision process this paper focuses on the information search undertaken by a prospective donor. It discusses the level of problem solving that characterises various donations, using the body of consumer decision‐making literature to provide a theoretical framework for the investigation. From the results it appears that donor decision making follows a similar pattern to consumer buying decisions. There appears to be a low incidence of extended problem solving, even where relatively large donations are concerned. Examples of limited problem solving and routine response behaviour, by contrast, were more prevalent.