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How Effective are Reminders and Frames in Incentivizing Blood Donations

Author

Listed:
  • Danijela Vuletic
Abstract
This paper studies the effects of reminders, and frames used to invoke higher levels of empathy and altruistic motives on the willingness to donate blood. We have conducted a randomized field experiment with 3236 blood donors from Bosnia and Herzegovina, in order to test how effective frames were when used in letters soliciting blood donation. Further, we tested the effectiveness of the letter itself which served as a specific reminder, making the need for blood more salient. Our baseline group did not receive any letter. Another seven groups received letters which differed in terms of goal framing; whether a specific victim was identified; and the gender of a victim. We found that a reminder of the need for blood in the form of a simple letter increases the probability of coming to donate blood by 63% relative to the baseline group, suggesting that reminder letters may serve as a cost effective policy tool. At the same time, we found that the framing of the letter had relatively little effect when donors are allowed longer period to make their donation decision.

Suggested Citation

  • Danijela Vuletic, 2015. "How Effective are Reminders and Frames in Incentivizing Blood Donations," CERGE-EI Working Papers wp554, The Center for Economic Research and Graduate Education - Economics Institute, Prague.
    • Handle: RePEc:cer:papers:wp554
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    File URL: http://www.cerge-ei.cz/pdf/wp/Wp554.pdf
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    Cited by:

    1. Maria De Paola & Francesca Gioia & Fabio Piluso, 2020. "Does Reminding of Behavioural Biases Increase Returns from Financial Trading? A Field Experiment," International Journal of Economics and Finance, Canadian Center of Science and Education, vol. 12(2), pages 1-1, February.

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    field experiment; blood donation; reminders; goal framing; identifiable victim effect;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • C93 - Mathematical and Quantitative Methods - - Design of Experiments - - - Field Experiments
    • D64 - Microeconomics - - Welfare Economics - - - Altruism; Philanthropy; Intergenerational Transfers
    • A13 - General Economics and Teaching - - General Economics - - - Relation of Economics to Social Values
    • I18 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Health - - - Government Policy; Regulation; Public Health

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