Research On The Influence Mechanism Of Charitable Organization Trust On Individual Charitable Donating Behavior

Philanthropy is a barometer of social civilization and progress,and also an important means of social wealth redistribution.However,scandals such as the " Wuhan Red Cross Incident","Guo Meimei Incident" and the Chengdu Blood Center’s "pouring blood on orchids" have constantly pushed charitable organizations to the center of public dispution in China,endangering people’s trust in charitable organizations.As a pro-social public welfare behavior,charitable donation has always been the focus of academia,but few studies have investigated the influence mechanism of trust in charitable organizations on individual charitable donation.Through three studies,this paper examined the impact of trust in charitable organizations on individuals’ charitable donation behavior as well as the mediating and moderating effects of risk perception and regulatory focus.In the first study,we investigated the relationship between explicit and implicit charitable organization trust,and the influence of these two constructs on individuals’willingness to donate to charity by using questionnaire and implicit association test.In the second study,220 students were primed to have high or low trust in charitable organizations by using situational experiment.The mediating effect of risk perception on trust in charitable organizations and willingness to donate blood,as well as the moderating effect of regulatory focus on the above mediating pathway were examined.The third study added donation target behavior on the basis of the second study.In the third study,698 students were recruited to investigate the mediating role of risk perception in charitable organization trust and individual charitable donation,as well as the moderating role of regulatory focus in this effect.The results showed that:(1)For both explicit and implicit attitudes,participants were more inclined to believe that charitable organizations were trustworthy,but the level of trust was relatively low;(2)Trust in charitable organizations has a significant positive predictive effect on individuals’ willingness to donate blood;(3)Perceived risk played a partial mediating role in the relationship between trust in charitable organizations and willingness to donate blood;(4)The mediating effect of risk perception was moderated by regulatory focus,and the relationship between risk perception and individual blood donation intention was more significant in prophylaxis oriented individuals.This study finally draws the following conclusions:Trust in charitable organizations has an impact on individuals’ willingness to donate blood through risk perception,and this effect is moderated by regulatory focus.Compared with promotionfocused individuals,risk perception of prevention-focused individuals has a greater predictive effect on individuals’ willingness to donate blood.The results of the study are not only beneficial to explain the charities trust and the relationship between individual charitable giving and its mechanism,and will help the charity and the related units to further understand donation behavior decision-making,more effectively improve the development of philanthropy faced problems.