GIVING FOR A WORTHIER CAUSE? FACTORS INFLUENCING CHANGES TO CHARITABLE GIVING ALLOCATIONS

Research has found that consumers can be heavily influenced by their social network when making a purchasing decision (Schmitt, Skiera, and Van den Bulte, 2011).Can this influence also change our mental accounting?To study this question more closely, we must examine this new media effect on mental accounting.It is not only important to expand the theoretical framework first proposed by Thaler (1985), but this question has real-world implications.As individuals have limited charitable budgets and charities are in desperate need of donations, it is important to understand which factors can contribute to changing a charitable givers mind.