Income and geographically constrained generosity

• Published date: 01 June 2022
• Author: Yujie Zhao,Xinyue Zhou
• Date: 01 June 2022
• DOI: http://doi.org/10.1111/joca.12441

RESEARCH ARTICLE

Income and geographically

constrained generosity

Yujie Zhao | Xinyue Zhou

School of Management, Zhejiang

University, Hangzhou, China

Correspondence

Xinyue Zhou, Department of Marketing,

School of Management, Zhejiang

University, 866 Yuhangtang Road,

Hangzhou, China 310058.

Email: xinyuezhou@zju.edu.cn

Funding information

the National Science Fund for

Distinguished Young Scholars, Grant/

Award Number: 71925005; the Zhejiang

Province Social Science Foundation,

Grant/Award Number: 21YJRC01ZD

Abstract

How to target individuals for charitable behavior to dis-

tant others is a major challenge. This paper tests the

possibility that individuals with higher income engage

in more charitable behavior toward distant beneficia-

ries relative to individuals with lower income. A multi-

method approach offers evidence for this prediction.

Survey data (N=2957) demonstrates that income is

positively related to allocations of money to distant

beneficiaries (foreign medical staff). Richer (vs. poorer)

individuals are also more likely to volunteer to assist

distant beneficiaries (Study 2, N=397; Study

3, N=250). Moreover, we tested this prediction with

data from 66,669 respondents across 49 countries and

found that those with higher income have higher

global identity, which, in turn, leads to proffering more

help toward distant others (Study 4).

KEYWORDS

charitable behavior, distant beneficiaries, global identity,

income

1|INTRODUCTION

“Though miles apart, we are under the same sky.”

—This slogan is attached on donations from the Japanese to Wuhan China during

the COVID-19 pandemic in China.

Received: 5 July 2021 Revised: 12 November 2021 Accepted: 3 January 2022

DOI: 10.1111/joca.12441

© 2022 American Council on Consumer Interests.

766 J Consum Aff. 2022;56:766–787.

wileyonlinelibrary.com/journal/joca

Charitable behavior is an incontrovertible part of the consumer's life (Brooks, 2006;

Winterich et al., 2009). Americans gave $449.64 billion (Giving USA, 2020) in 2019. Despite the

apparent magnitude of contributions, the reality is that only a small percentage of people act in

a prosocial fashion to help distant others (e.g., recipients from non-home state, international

groups, or even foreign countries; Wang et al., 2021). For example, about 70% of worldwide

donors donated to charities within their country of residence (nonprofitssource.com) and only

6.4% of American donations were given to international affairs in 2019 (Giving USA, 2020). A

potential explanation for such geographically constrained generosity is that individuals prefer

to favor members of their own ethnic, racial, or various “close”others, as guided by their paro-

chialism (Bernhard et al., 2006). As a result, how to target individuals or communities for chari-

table behavior to distant others is a significant challenge for global charities.

Extant research shows that social identity can work on identifying individuals who are more

likely to help distant others, such as moral identity (Reed & Aquino, 2003) and gender identity

(Winterich et al., 2009). As an essential characteristic of social identity, income has profound

effect on consumers' behavior and determines individuals' many aspects of social life

(e.g., Pinquart & Sörensen, 2000; Singh-Manoux et al., 2005). However, income has received

surprisingly little attention in targeting individuals for charitable behavior to distant others.

The present research addresses this lacuna by investigating the role of individuals' income in

charitable behavior toward distant beneficiaries.

We propose that individuals with higher income will engage in more charitable behavior

toward distant others than those with lower income. Moreover, we identify global identity as

the mechanism for this effect. More specifically, richer people have a stronger global identity,

whereby they see themselves as members of world culture (Zhang & Khare, 2009). The global

identity, in turn, increases charitable behavior toward distant beneficiaries. These predictions

are tested with four studies.

This research seeks to make several contributions to the marketing literature and inform a

theory of practice. Our findings reveal that individuals with higher income have a greater global

identity, which facilitates the understanding of income's impact on personal view of world. Fur-

ther, the research contributes to prosocial literature by validating the relationship between

income and charitable behavior toward distant others. Additionally, the beneficiary's distance

shed light on an ongoing debate concerning how the rich and the poor differ in generosity. At

the same time, our findings reveal practical insights that can promote consumers' happiness,

given that helping others can increase individuals' well-being (Dunn et al., 2008).

2|CONCEPTUAL DEVELOPMENT

2.1 |Beneficiary distance

People are more likely to help members from their own ethnic, racial, or even language group;

such behavior is referred to as “parochial altruism”(Bernhard et al., 2006; Choi &

Bowles, 2007). Previous research demonstrated that donation behaviors toward distant benefi-

ciaries were reduced compared with close beneficiaries (Cavanaugh et al., 2015; Touré-Tillery &

Fishbach, 2017). As such, some people put helping close beneficiaries as a high priority, yet

recipients in distant communities or countries often need more assistance than local citizens.

Promoting charitable behavior for distant beneficiaries has received some empirical interest.

For instance, compared with some other positive emotions, feelings of love lead to more

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