Biomedical Excellence for Safer Transfusion
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156

2021

Study Title
Incentives for blood (product) donation
Study Description
Different countries and blood operators within these countries have diverse incentive regimens to reward or compensate their blood (component) donors either financially, or by offering tokens of appreciation, milestones etc. (cf. Zeller et al. 2020). The literature on motivation and the effect of different forms of incentives on prosocial behavior, including blood donation, is scattered across various disciplines in the social sciences, i.e. psychology, sociology, economics, and marketing. Different mechanisms, economic and psychological ones (e.g., extrinsic rewards: receiving something in return; reciprocity: helping others because you have been helped; reputation: gaining from helping others; warm glow: the extent to which helping makes you feel good) have been suggested to explain variation in donor motivation and behaviour (Andreoni 1990; Nowak 2006). In addition, theoretical and empirical (e.g., Lacetera & Macis 2010; Healy 2000) evidence suggests that prevailing social norms and individual perceptions of providing different forms of (financial) incentives might play a role in the complex interplay among factors that determine donor motivation and behaviour.
As discussed in our last BEST teleconference and presented during the June 2020 online meeting, I suggest to take an inventory of different incentive practice in BEST member blood operators (objective 1). we can extend the analysis from Zeller et al. (2020; Vox Sanguinis International Forum)) and include blood operators from countries that are not covered yet. Notably, no US blood operators have been part of this study. The questionnaire used is easy and accessible (cf. Appendix 1). Based on this questionnaire, one of my PhD students completed an overview of different ways of incentivizing by different blood establishments and across different countries for Europe. I propose to expand her analysis by adding data from the blood and plasma services represented in BEST, i.e. North America, Australia and Asia.
Study Status
Active
Publication Number
Teams
DS
Study Leaders
Merz, Vassallo