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Donating Time versus Money

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June Cotte 4266 Views

Around the world, there are thousands of charitable and political causes seeking donations of our time and money. In a recently published Journal of Consumer Research article, John Costello and Selin Malkoc examine this intriguing and important issue. Here they share what we can learn from their findings.

Nonprofit organizations, like charities and political groups, tend to succeed or fail based on their ability to attract donations of time and money. While both resources are integral to the operation of non-profits, their managers typically prefer donations of money over time volunteered. But, donors tend to prefer the exact opposite: to donate time, even when doing so does less good for the cause they aim to help. Why is that?

READ THE FULL STORY HERE https://consumerresearcher.com/charities

 

Stop, drop, and stay there: An episode all about leisure

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“How do you like to relax? Do you read a book? Go for a hike, maybe? How about grabbing dinner with friends? The list goes on, and we consider these activities leisure. This hour, we learn what leisure is and how to master it.” a discussion with Prof. Selin Malkoc from The Ohio State University Fisher College of Business

https://player.fm/series/the-colin-mcenroe-show-1093146/stop-drop-and-stay-there-an-episode-all-about-leisure

Colin McEnroe Show

Should you pay an extra fee just for being a Californian? Pizza Hut thinks so

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“It’s called ‘drip pricing,’” said Joseph K. Goodman, an associate professor of marketing at Ohio State University.

“Most consumers find this strategy unfair, as one might expect,” he told me. “They think they’re getting something at a price and then feel cheated. The brand basically broke its promise.”

https://www.latimes.com/business/story/2021-12-07/column-pizza-hut-california-service-charge

Ending prices with “.99” can backfire on sellers

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It makes consumers less likely to choose pricey upgrades

Setting a price just below a round number ($39.99 instead of $40) may lead consumers into thinking a product is less expensive than it really is – but it can sometimes backfire on sellers, a new study shows.

Researchers found that this “just-below” pricing makes consumers less likely to upgrade to a more expensive version of the product or service, such as a bigger size or higher-end trim on a car. The just-below price that makes a product itself seem like a good bargain also makes the leap to the premium product seem too expensive, said Junha Kim, lead author of the study and doctoral student in marketing at The Ohio State University’s Fisher College of Business.

“Going from $19.99 to $25 may seem like it will cost more than going from $20 to $26, even though it is actually less,” Kim said. “Crossing that round number threshold makes a big difference for consumers.” Kim conducted the study with Joseph Goodman and Selin Malkoc, both associate professors of marketing at Ohio State. Their research was published yesterday (Aug. 26, 2021) in the Journal of Consumer Research.

https://news.osu.edu/ending-prices-with-99-can-backfire-on-sellers/

Are you going to upgrade to the larger cup of coffee?

Tricks for Making a Vacation Feel Longer—and More Fulfilling

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One tip: Don’t pack the trip with scheduled events

By Suzanne Oliver for The Wall Street Journal

It feels like we just got here. How often have we all said that when a vacation is coming to an end? We blinked and it’s the last day. And then when we get home: It’s like we never left.

https://www.wsj.com/articles/tricks-for-making-a-vacation-feel-longer-and-more-fulfilling-11629839864

Why Hyper-organisation Can Backfire

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Featuring Selin Malkoc’s research in the BBC’s WorkLife column by Aysha Imtiaz
 
We all want to be more productive. But research shows that schedules don’t suit some tasks – and can even make us enjoy them less. … Structuring our lives too temporally robs leisure of its innate spontaneity and enjoyment…Malkoc’s research has also shown that when people schedule roughly – by drawing lines outside the confines of the calendar grid, adding question marks or shading in large blocks of time, people perceive the activity to be just as fun as a spontaneous, impromptu one. Yet this doesn’t lend itself to the digital world; as Malkoc points out: “There isn’t a real way to schedule roughly in a calendar.”

Why vacations seem so short

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By Selin Malkoc, July 7, 2021

When people look forward to something, they usually want it to happen as soon as possible and last as long as possible.

A beach with sun loungers and palms on Saona Island in the Dominican Republic. (Nikolay Antonov/Dreamstime/TNS)
For many people, summer vacation can’t come soon enough – especially for the half of Americans who canceled their summer plans last year due to the pandemic. But when a vacation approaches, do you ever get the feeling that it’s almost over before it starts? If so, you’re not alone.
In some recent studies, Gabriela Tonietto, Sam Maglio, Eric VanEpps and I conducted, we found that about half of the people we surveyed indicated that their upcoming weekend trip felt like it would end as soon as it started….full article here.