Warming up Cooling Cooperators

Ferguson, Eamonn; Lawrence, Claire; Gemelli, Carley; Rozsa, Amy; Niekrasz, Konrad; Masser, Barbara; Davison, Tanya

Abstract

The warm-glow of giving is one mechanism proposed to account for high levels of human cooperation. However, little is known about how warm-glow can be harnessed to sustain long-term cooperation to benefit wider society (vaccinations, blood donation). We argue that the power of warm-glow to sustain long-term cooperation cools offs over time but can be warmed-up with a simple intervention message. We test, and confirm this prediction, in a field-based experiment (n = 5,821) comparing warm-glow versus positive affect messages to predict long-term cooperation (blood donation) and confirm our findings in a subsequent implementation study comparing donation attendance in a 3 year pre-implementation period, prior to the warm-glow message being sent to all 1st time donors in Australia (Ns = 90,317, 93,430 & 89,606) to a 2 year post-implementation period (Ns = 81,766 & 88,551). Exogenously manipulated warm-glow can encourage long-term cooperation that benefits society. Wider societal implications are discussed.

Citation

Ferguson, E., Lawrence, C., Gemelli, C., Rozsa, A., Niekrasz, K., Masser, B., & Davison, T. Warming up Cooling Cooperators

• Working Paper Type: Preprint
• Online Publication Date: Sep 13, 2023
• Deposit Date: May 13, 2025
• Publicly Available Date: May 16, 2025
• DOI: https://doi.org/10.21203/rs.3.rs-87927/v1
• Public URL: https://nottingham-repository.worktribe.com/output/4974197
• Publisher URL: https://www.researchsquare.com/article/rs-87927/v1