Asking for less to obtain more

Past studies have shown that manipulating the scale of suggested donations in a charitable campaign influences the amount collected. This study was carried out within an experimental framework, taking into account donors’ previous behavior. Results show that the donation scale has a real but small effect on both the frequency and the amount of donations. When the scale has a large range, general conclusions cannot be drawn about the relationship between the request (the scale) and the amount collected; the results will depend on the relation between the solicitation scale and the distribution of previous donations. We also show that a reference price effect exists, as donation behaviors can be explained mainly by previous behavior. Involvement, as measured by recency-frequency variables, influences donation frequency but not donation amount.