A typology of blood donor motivations

Brailsford, Susan R; Ferguson, Eamonn; Hill, Alexandra; Lam, Michael; Reynolds, Claire; Davison, Katy; Lawrence, Claire; Brailsford, Susan .

Abstract

Background: Although the need for whole blood is declining, so too are the number of first-time and repeat blood donors. To develop new recruitment and retention strategies, therefore, we need to draw on as wide a variation in blood donor motivations as possible. The primary aim of this study is to draw on a large survey of donors to develop a broad, theoretically-instantiated typology of donor motivations to identify new and less common, yet practically important, motivations that have not been previously reported.

Study Design and Methods: Using data from the UK Blood Donor Survey run by NHS Blood and Transplant/ Public Health England Epidemiology Unit (N = 61,123 donors), we analyse fixed (N = 52,225) and free (N = 8, 867) responses to develop a more comprehensive typology of blood donor motivations based on theories from the biology, psychology, philosophy, economics and sociology of altruism.

Results: We identified 54 motivations, including a number of newly-identified motivations, for blood donations which we organized into 12 superordinate categories (e.g., ‘inspiration via moral elevation’, ‘perceived social closeness’ and ‘fungibility of donations’). These are linked to intervention suggestions such as donating blood in memoriam, or donating blood as an alternative to other charitable acts.

Conclusion: We present the most comprehensive account of blood donor motivations to-date. This work also offers a structure for coding free-text responses, developing motivational measures and identifying tangible interventions. Thus, we feel that this is a valuable resource for blood donor researchers, marketers and policy makers.

Citation

Brailsford, S. R., Ferguson, E., Hill, A., Lam, M., Reynolds, C., Davison, K., …Brailsford, S. .. (2020). A typology of blood donor motivations. Transfusion, 60(9), 2010-2020. https://doi.org/10.1111/trf.15913

• Journal Article Type: Article
• Acceptance Date: Apr 14, 2020
• Online Publication Date: Jul 2, 2020
• Publication Date: 2020-09
• Deposit Date: May 29, 2020
• Publicly Available Date: Jul 3, 2021
• Journal: Transfusion
• Print ISSN: 0041-1132
• Electronic ISSN: 1537-2995
• Publisher: Wiley
• Peer Reviewed: Peer Reviewed
• Volume: 60
• Issue: 9
• Pages: 2010-2020
• DOI: https://doi.org/10.1111/trf.15913
• Keywords: Immunology; Immunology and Allergy; Hematology
• Public URL: https://nottingham-repository.worktribe.com/output/4531352
• Additional Information: Received: 2020-01-07; Accepted: 2020-05-14; Published: 2020-07-02