Humans tend to believe that their decisions are mostly rational.

In fact, much of the time they are irrational, guided by forces we don’t even perceive.

Nudge theory states that changes in architectural choice interventions—that is, changes to the context in which we make our choices—can affect decision making.

I wanted to apply the principals of nudge theory to help a charity local to me in Hong Kong; one that I have long been involved with, and that I admire greatly for their commitment to community outreach and human compassion.

A major source of their revenue comes from donations, which they receive both online and through in-person fundraising. Research shows that ‘nudging’ of different kinds has the potential to affect the number of donations and the amount for each donation. For instance, it has been shown that when donors feel confident they can make a meaningful difference, they are more likely to donate (Saeri et al., 2022).

Building on the psychology of nudging, I have been working with this local charity to study how various nudges impact their donations. Based on the available research, I decided to focus on how colour embedded in communications of the charity would influence the donation amount. The first nudge I chose was colour (orange and blue, their brand colors) and the second nudge the benchmark shown in the donation. Below are the results of the experiments we’ve done so far.

Experiment 1

Measuring the impact of benchmarking and color on willingness to donate: an online study

Experiment 2

Measuring the impact of charity box color on in-person donations

Experiment 3

An observational analysis of the fundraising impact of varying brand colors on the charity website

Experiment 1

Measuring the impact of benchmarking and color on willingness to donate: an online study

I set out to investigate the ways in which color would influence the amount of money people were willing to donate. For this first experiment, I tested hypothetical willingness to donate online, when exposed to communications using varying background colors.

The colors orange and blue were chosen because of their connotations (​​Choi el al., 2020). Orange appears to represent the color of frivolity and blue the color of honesty; my hypothesis was that participants exposed to the blue-colored survey question would indicate willingness to donate a higher amount than those exposed to the orange-colored version.

Simultaneously, I wanted to test the hypothesis that higher benchmarks shown for suggested donation amounts tend to increase donations (Goswami & Urminsky, 2016).

Methodology

I used two variables: background color of the survey question (blue or orange), and donation benchmark amount (higher or lower), for a total of 4 possible versions of the survey.

  • The blue and orange colors selected were the brand colors of the charity I was working with

  • The benchmarks were selected to match the corresponding amounts on the charity website in HKD.  The higher benchmark survey used the values 96, 77, 38 USD, and the lower one used 77, 61, 31 USD.

  • I recruited 785 participants via a popular survey website.

Participants were shown a brief explanation of the work the charity does to combat food poverty, displayed on either a blue or an orange background. They were then asked to select from multiple-choice options to indicate how much money they would theoretically be willing to donate to this charity.

All participants were given a set three options indicating different amounts of money (which set of options they were shown depended on whether they were the higher or lower benchmark group), plus two further fixed options of ‘I wouldn’t donate’ and ‘other amount’.

Results

The results did not confirm my first hypothesis, that the blue groups would indicate willingness to donate a higher amount than the orange groups; the orange groups were willing to donate slightly more, at around $5 more on average than their blue group counterparts.

My second hypothesis was that the groups with a higher benchmark would show willingness to donate a higher amount more than those with a lower benchmark, and this was confirmed. The difference between the two was statistically significant: the higher benchmark group indicated willingness to donate an average of $23.30 more than the lower benchmark group, a difference of nearly 300%.

Conclusions

It appears that both background color and benchmark amount may make a difference to willingness to donate, although in the case of background color this warrants further investigation. It is important to note that this was an online experiment measuring expressed intentions only; this data reflects participants’ self-declared “willingness to donate” which may differ significantly from actual donations. For this reason, I will conduct two additional experiments that will measure actual donations: one in a public setting and one through the charity’s website.

Amount willing to donate in USD depending on donation benchmark shown

From an online survey of 785 particpants

Experiment 2: Measuring the impact of charity box color on in-person donations

Using box color as the independent variable, I will measure donations in the same location across a series of days and times, to test the hypothesis that the orange box will receive more donations.

This experiment is currently underway.

In conjunction with the charity, I will vary the brand colors on the charity website and in particular on webpages pointing to or facilitating online donations. Two separate versions of the webpage will be tested, consecutively, for a period of several weeks.

This experiment is planned for Spring 2023.

Experiment 3: An observational analysis of the fundraising impact of varying brand colors on the charity website