This study examines the role of organizational competence and transparency, altruism, and identification with all humanity in willingness to help and donate to a non-profit organization. In this...Show moreThis study examines the role of organizational competence and transparency, altruism, and identification with all humanity in willingness to help and donate to a non-profit organization. In this cross-sectional study, participants (n = 98) from Academic Prolific were shown a non-profit organization to which they were atypical due to their social identity. They were then asked questions that ascertained how competent and transparent they believed the organization is, how altruistic they were and how much they identified with all humanity. They were also asked questions to measure how willing they were to help the organization overall and how willing they were to specifically donate money to the organization. Direct effects were tested for with multiple regression analyses. These showed that organizational competence is not significantly related to willingness to help, while organizational transparency is. The analyses also showed that altruism is not significantly related to willingness to help while identification with all humanity is. Mediation and moderation analyses were also performed. The results imply that a non-profit organization would be better able to reach their donation goals if they focused more on their perceived transparency rather than competence. Advertising to people who greatly identify with all humanity could also be beneficial. Strengths and limitations are discussed and suggestions for new research are proposed.Show less
This study examines the role of perceived organizational prestige and its predictors (perceived organizational morality, perceived organizational competence, perceived organizational sociability)...Show moreThis study examines the role of perceived organizational prestige and its predictors (perceived organizational morality, perceived organizational competence, perceived organizational sociability) in the general public’s willingness to donate money to a nonprofit organization. With this, we also examine the mediating role of anticipated respect and the moderating role of perceived need for donations. This research has a 4 cell (perceived organizational morality, perceived organizational competence, perceived organizational sociability versus control) between-subjects factorial design and used a total of 159 members of the general public (50,3% female, 1,3% non-binary; Mage = 34,4 years) from English speaking countries (the US, the UK, Ireland and Canada) as research participants. A first series of ANOVAs showed our manipulations to be effective in instilling perceptions of organizational morality, competence and sociability. A second series of ANOVAs indicated that only the morality of the nonprofit organization raised the perception of organizational prestige in our participants. A multiple regression analysis showed that perceived organizational prestige, while controlling for age and gender, related directly and positively to anticipated respect received when donating to a nonprofit organization. Mediation analysis showed a significant indirect effect of perceived organizational prestige on willingness to donate via anticipated respect as a mediator. A second and third mediation analysis showed a significant indirect effect of perceived organizational morality on willingness to donate, via organizational prestige as well as via anticipated respect as mediators. Moderation analysis showed no support for the notion that perceived need for financial donations strengthens the effect of organizational prestige on donation willingness. Theoretical implications, practical implications and limitations are discussed.Show less
Financial shame can lead people to avoid seeking or accepting help with their financial problems. We expect that attenuating feelings of shame motivates people to seek help. To test this...Show moreFinancial shame can lead people to avoid seeking or accepting help with their financial problems. We expect that attenuating feelings of shame motivates people to seek help. To test this expectation, we conduct an experiment in which we present participants with an alleged website of an organisation that provides financial advice. They are presented with one of two versions. In one version the communication of the organisation is geared toward attenuating feelings of shame, whereas in the other it is not. As hypothesized, participants who experienced less shame perceived the organisation as more positive and were more likely to contact or recommend the organisation to friends or family, and these people dealt with the financial situation more constructively (hypothesis 1a-1c). Contrary to our hypothesis, only people with higher shame perceived the organisation as less positive and people with higher shame and stigma would contact or recommend the organisation less often to friends or family and handled their financial situation less constructively (hypothesis 2a-2c).Show less
Consumers can perceive brands in the way they perceive others. There has not been substantial research about attributing human personality traits, such as competence and morality, to brands. In...Show moreConsumers can perceive brands in the way they perceive others. There has not been substantial research about attributing human personality traits, such as competence and morality, to brands. In this study, we analyze competence and morality as dimensions of brand personality in order to predict purchase intention. Moreover, consumers also tend to find similarities between their personalities and a brand's personality. This concept of self congruence is used to moderate the relationships between competence, morality and purchase intention. The results of the online questionnaire showed that both morality and competence increase purchase intention, but self-congruence did not moderate these relationships. These findings suggest interesting implications for academic research and practical implications for the marketing and public relations field.Show less
This study examines the effect of brand morality and brand competence on explicit and implicit brand attitude and whether identification mediates this effect. The study has a two (morality: low x...Show moreThis study examines the effect of brand morality and brand competence on explicit and implicit brand attitude and whether identification mediates this effect. The study has a two (morality: low x high) by two (competence: low x high) factorial experimental between-subjects design. The experiment was conducted with the Qualtrics Domain of Leiden University. The results of four ANOVA’s showed that both brand morality and brand competence affect consumers’ explicit and implicit brand attitude, with a larger effect of brand morality. The first regression analysis showed that identification influences the effect of both brand morality and brand competence on explicit brand attitude, with a slightly larger effect of brand morality. The second regression analysis showed that identification influences the effect of brand competence on implicit brand attitude but does not influence the effect of brand morality on implicit brand attitude. Theoretical and practical implications, limitations, and suggestions for further research are discussed.Show less
Current literature indicates that consumers prefer certain aspects of brand logos, which could influence consumer behavior. Little is known, however, about the effect of the compatibility of logos...Show moreCurrent literature indicates that consumers prefer certain aspects of brand logos, which could influence consumer behavior. Little is known, however, about the effect of the compatibility of logos with a brand’s personality on consumers’ attitudes and purchase intentions. The current experiment (N = 104) is conducted to test if brand attitudes and purchase intentions of competent and moral brands are more positive and stronger when a logo is compatible with the brand’s personality, as opposed to when it is not. Results show no effect of logo compatibility. Reasons for this could be that the effect of logo compatibility could be less explicitly measurable than expected, and that logo compatibility could be (co)determined by semantic meaning of logos. The results, however, have to be interpreted with caution, because the manipulation of the brands’ personalities only partly worked.Show less
Understanding how consumers perceive brand traits may help organizations enhance their positioning strategy and marketing. Previous research shows that personality traits are important in...Show moreUnderstanding how consumers perceive brand traits may help organizations enhance their positioning strategy and marketing. Previous research shows that personality traits are important in predicting social perception and behavior. This study (n = 216) aims to better understand the effect of brand morality and competence on brand attitude and purchase intentions, using an online survey with an experimental design. The findings showed that brand morality has a stronger effect than brand competence on brand attitude and purchase intentions. Previous research also shows the importance of brand trust in predicting consumers’ perceptions. Therefore, the mediation of trust in the relation between the traits and brand attitude and purchase intentions is investigated. The results show that trust is related to brand attitude and purchase intentions. Also, brand trust mediates the relationship between morality and brand attitude and purchase intentions, as well as the relationship between competence and brand attitude and purchase intentions.Show less
After the mid-1980s, it became necessary to harmonise asylum policy of the European Union (EU) due to the increasing number of asylum applications and the removal of internal borders between the...Show moreAfter the mid-1980s, it became necessary to harmonise asylum policy of the European Union (EU) due to the increasing number of asylum applications and the removal of internal borders between the Member States. To this end, Member States firstly approximated their asylum policies through intergovernmental initiatives and then gradually communitarised asylum policy of the EU via treaty reforms. The Amsterdam Treaty put asylum policy, for the first time, under the Community competence and subsequent treaties further increased EU’s competence. Meanwhile, the Common European Asylum System (CEAS) has been established under three multi-annual programmes, namely the Tampere, the Hague and the Stockholm Programmes. This thesis explores to what extent the Member States have transferred their competence in asylum policy to the EU in particular since 1999 when the Amsterdam Treaty came into force and the CEAS was introduced. It accordingly analyses both primary and secondary EU law on asylum with a critical legal approach. The development of the common European asylum policy and its gradual shift from the national to the intergovernmental and eventually to the supranational level resulting from the transfer of competence are also analysed from a neo-functionalist perspective.Show less
