Hotel philanthropy and brand attitudes: Can donation type and amount influence customers' warmth perceptions and attitudes?

Using two types of donations (time and monetary), this study employs a serial moderated mediation model to explain how and why donation type can influence consumers' brand attitudes. To achieve this goal, three experimental studies were conducted, collecting 475 useable data from an online platform. The hypotheses were tested through SPSS software. Findings reveal that time (vs. monetary) donation results in more positive attitudes. This relationship is serially mediated by perceived warmth and brand warmth. However, time donation produces higher perceived warmth and positive brand attitudes when the donation amount is low while monetary donation yields higher perceived warmth and positive brand attitudes when the donation amount is high. Findings contribute to our understanding of the complex effect corporate philanthropy has on consumer outcomes and provide novel insights for managing corporate philanthropy efforts.