Turning narcissists into prosocial agents: explaining young people’s online donation behavior

Abstract

Purpose This study aims to empirically test the proposition that high narcissistic consumers are more likely to perform donation-related behavior, such as the intention to donate and to share the donation link, compared to low narcissistic consumers when the organization’s reputation is high. Built upon the evolutionary psychology theory, this study proposes that narcissism activates the status motive, and the relationship between narcissism, organization reputation and donation-related behavior can be explained by status motive. Design/methodology/approach The current research comprises two between-subject experimental studies that use both measured and manipulated narcissism subsequently, whereas the organization’s reputation was manipulated in both studies. Findings The results demonstrate that narcissistic consumers are more likely to donate and to share the donation advertisement when the donation organization is perceived as having a high (vs low) prestige. Further, the status motive mediates the effect of narcissism on donation decisions only when the donation organization is perceived as having high (vs low) prestige. Research limitations/implications This research’s main limitation is that it only examines two alternate ways to improve perceived organization’s reputation (e.g. highlight the organization’s reputational features and link to reputable entities such as celebrities), although organizational literature suggests that perceived organization reputation can be improved in many ways. Practical implications From a practical perspective, social marketers and donation organizations potentially benefit from this research because it demonstrates that high narcissistic consumers potentially involve in donation-related behaviors more than consumers with low narcissism when the organization is perceived as highly reputable. Originality/value The current research contributes to the narcissism literature and adds to the evolutionary psychology theory by providing empirical evidence that narcissism, whether manifesting as a trait or a state, can activate a status motive that leads to prosocial behavior, but only when the donation organization is perceived as prestigious.