Go local or global? How consumers’ response to charity locality shapes checkout charity outcomes

Charity locality has been suggested as an important factor shaping consumers' responses to prosocial appeals, with local charities receiving greater support than global ones. Building on this insight, this research examines the role of charity locality in shaping the outcomes of checkout charity campaigns. In particular, we investigate whether partnering with local versus global charities influences consumers' responses and retailer-relevant outcomes. Drawing on a psychological distance perspective, we argue that charity locality serves as a heuristic cue which enhances consumers' perceptions of social connection to beneficiaries and donation impact. This, in turn, shapes consumers' responses to donation requests and retailer evaluations. We develop and test a conceptual model in which charity locality affects retailer-related (checkout satisfaction; attitude towards retailer) and donation-related (donation likelihood) outcomes through these psychological mechanisms and examine the moderating effect of local identity. Using partial least squares structural equation modeling with data from 356 U.S. consumers, we find that partnering with local instead of global charities enhances outcomes for charities and retailers alike. Local charities strengthen consumers' perceived social connection to beneficiaries and perceived donation impact of campaigns, which in turn lead to more positive consumer responses. These effects are more pronounced when consumers' local identity is stronger. Our work contributes to the literature by identifying charity locality as a key driver of consumer responses to checkout charity campaigns, uncovering its underlying psychological mechanisms, and highlighting the role of consumers’ local identity. Our findings offer practical guidance for retailers designing checkout charity campaigns.