Time for the Sad and Money for the Happy? The Role of Social Approach on Consumer Willingness to Contribute Charitably

We propose that while past research has generally suggested that communals (vs. agentics) help more (Utz 2004), this will depend on the resource being sought (i.e., time vs. money; e.g., MacDonnell and White 2012). Due to the social nature of volunteering, we predict and f ind that communals are more inclined to contribute time, whereas agentics prefer to donate money (pilot study). In addition, we predict and find that this effect is moderated by the affective state of the target, such that when the target is sad, or sadness-provoking, and there is therefore social esteem to be gained from making the individual feel better, communals are more willing than agentics to give time (studies 1 and 2). Further, we predict and find that agentics are more compelled to give money – a more individual approach to helping – when presented with a sad target. Social approach – the desire to help from up close, versus from a distance – to enable feeling good about one’s contribution is proposed and tested as a mechanism (study 3).