Purpose

This paper aims to demonstrate that Facebook likes affect outcomes in nonprofit settings. Specifically, Facebook likes influence affinity to nonprofits, which, in turn, affects fundraising outcomes.

Design/methodology/approach

The authors report three studies that establish that relationship. To examine social contagion, Study 1 – an auction field study – relies on selling artwork created by underprivileged youth. To isolate signaling, Study 2 manipulates the number of total Facebook likes on a page. To isolate commitment escalation, Study 3 manipulates whether a participant clicks a Facebook like.

Findings

The results show that Facebook likes increase willingness to contribute in nonprofit settings and that the process goes through affinity, as well as through Facebook impressions and bidding intensity. The total number of Facebook likes has a direct signaling effect and an indirect social contagion effect.

Research limitations/implications

The effectiveness of the proposed mechanisms is limited to nonprofit settings and only applies to short-term effects.

Practical implications

Facebook likes serve as both a quality signal and a commitment mechanism. The magnitude of commitment escalation is larger, and the relationship is moderated by familiarity with the organization. Managers should target Facebook likes at those less familiar with the organization and should prioritize getting a potential donor to leave a like as a step leading to donation, in essence mapping a donor journey from prospective to active, where Facebook likes play an essential role in the journey. In a charity auction setting, the donor journey involves an additional step of bidder intensity.

Social implications

The approach the authors study is shown effective in nonprofit settings but does not appear to extend to corporate social responsibility more broadly.

Originality/value

To the best of the authors’ knowledge, this study is the first investigation to map Facebook likes to a seller’s journey through signals and commitment, as well as the only investigation to map Facebook likes to charity auctions and show the effectiveness of this in the field.

中文翻译：

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社交媒体和非营利筹款：Facebook 点赞的影响

目的

本文旨在证明 Facebook 点赞会影响非营利环境中的结果。具体来说，Facebook 喜欢影响对非营利组织的亲和力，这反过来又会影响筹款结果。

设计/方法论/途径

作者报告了三项研究，证实了这种关系。为了检验社会传染性，研究 1（一项拍卖实地研究）依赖于销售贫困青年创作的艺术品。为了隔离信号，研究 2 操纵了页面上 Facebook 点赞的总数。为了隔离承诺升级，研究 3 操纵参与者是否点击 Facebook 点赞。

发现

结果表明，Facebook 喜欢增加在非营利环境中做出贡献的意愿，并且该过程通过亲和力以及 Facebook 印象和出价强度来实现。 Facebook点赞总数具有直接的信号效应和间接的社会传染效应。

研究局限性/影响

拟议机制的有效性仅限于非营利机构，并且仅适用于短期效果。

实际影响

Facebook 点赞既是一种质量信号，也是一种承诺机制。承诺升级的幅度更大，并且这种关系通过对组织的熟悉程度来调节。管理者应针对那些不太熟悉组织的人进行 Facebook 点赞，并应优先考虑让潜在捐赠者留下点赞，作为促成捐赠的一步，本质上绘制了从潜在捐赠者到活跃捐赠者的旅程，其中 Facebook 点赞在捐赠过程中发挥着至关重要的作用。旅行。在慈善拍卖中，捐赠者的旅程还涉及投标人强度的额外步骤。

社会影响

作者研究的方法在非营利环境中被证明是有效的，但似乎并没有扩展到更广泛的企业社会责任。

原创性/价值

据作者所知，这项研究是第一项通过信号和承诺将 Facebook 点赞映射到卖家旅程的调查，也是唯一一项将 Facebook 点赞映射到慈善拍卖并展示其在该领域的有效性的调查。