Abstract

As the number of nonprofit organizations increases and consumer donations reach record levels, an understanding of the multitude of factors influencing donors' sharing behavior is critical. This dissertation is the first step in investigating the role of perceived interpersonal closeness (IC) on donation allocations and the influence of word-of-mouth (WOM) request type on likelihood of sharing. These goals are addressed in two essays. The first essay (Chapter Two) focuses on the role of donor's IC with a victim on allocation to nonprofit activities addressing care or cure. Specifically, this essay explores how those who perceive greater IC with a victim are more likely than those with low IC to allocate donations to cure due to a greater degree of hope for the future. The second essay of this dissertation (Chapter Three) investigates the influence of WOM type, specifically donor- or charity-focused, on donors' likelihood to share. Drawing on literature from psychology, this essay demonstrates that requests for donor-focused WOM reduce the likelihood of sharing relative to charity-focused WOM requests due to lower perceived persuasive efficacy. In sum, the two essays included in this dissertation advance the knowledge of factors that will influence consumer behavior, adding to the theoretical understanding of prosocial behavior, donation allocations, and WOM, while providing implications for nonprofit marketing managers and increased consumer well-being.

Notes

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Graduation Date

2020

Semester

Summer

Advisor

He, Xin

Degree

Doctor of Philosophy (Ph.D.)

College

College of Business Administration

Degree Program

Business Administration; Marketing

Format

application/pdf

Identifier

CFE0008129; DP0023465

URL

https://purls.library.ucf.edu/go/DP0023465

Language

English

Release Date

August 2025

Length of Campus-only Access

5 years

Access Status

Doctoral Dissertation (Campus-only Access)

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Restricted to the UCF community until August 2025; it will then be open access.

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