The impact of religious conformity, peer presence, and self-monitoring on donation behavior

Abstract

This study examines the three-way interaction between religious conformity, peer presence, and self-monitoring in their influence on consumers’ donation behavior. While past studies have focused on the relationship between religion and charity, findings remain mixed regarding whether religious individuals are more likely to donate to religious or secular causes, especially when they donate in non-private settings. This study tries to fill this gap by examining how the religious conformity of the donor affects their donation behavior. We investigated our hypotheses through two studies. Study 1 focuses on the effect of the religious conformity of donors (high vs. low religious conformity) on their preference to donate to religious versus nonreligious causes. In Study 2, we introduce the presence of an observer while individuals are donating to different causes. Specifically, we show that religious conformists shift their donation preferences toward nonreligious causes when they are being observed by a person they know as being nonreligious compared to an observer they know as being religious. In addition, our results indicate that changes in donation choices are more significant for religious conformists with higher levels of self-monitoring. This research makes both theoretical and practical contributions. It provides insights into the roles of religious conformity and visibility of the donation in charitable giving, particularly in the presence of social influence. It also offers important contributions to marketing and charitable fundraising strategies as it shows how religious conformity and the need to retain religious identity shape donation behaviors in a public setting.