‘Perceived psychological contract violation’ refers to the idea of members of organizations that the organization does not meet their expectations, and is predicted to have negative consequences...Show more‘Perceived psychological contract violation’ refers to the idea of members of organizations that the organization does not meet their expectations, and is predicted to have negative consequences for organizations. Accordingly, this study examined among financial donors of charitable organizations a) whether violation of the psychological contract undermines the willingness to donate money to the charitable organization, and b) the psychological processes that may make financial donors perceive a violation of the psychological contract. The research participants were members of the Amazon Mechanical Turk online platform who adopted the role of financial donor (n = 91). The research had a consecutive 1X2 experimental design. Specifically, the participants were first randomly allocated across the experimental condition about investment of the organization in helping its clientele and sustaining the relationship with donors (high/low). Thereafter, those participants who had been assigned to the ‘low investment condition’ were randomly allocated across an experimental condition about justification for the low investment (yes/no). As predicted, ANOVAs showed that financial donors who were presented information about low investment of the organization in helping its clientele and sustaining the relationship with donors reported the least perceived organizational reciprocity, integrity, and transparency. A second ANOVA indicated that for the participants allocated to the ‘low direct investment’-condition, the justification for the low investment did not influence perceived organizational reciprocity, integrity or transparency. Further, moderation regression analysis showed that the trust of financial donors in the charity does not weaken the negative effects of low investment on perceived organizational reciprocity, integrity or transparency. Finally, regression analyses showed that among financial donors, perceived non-reciprocity and non-integrity of the organization instill perceived psychological contract violation as a predictor of willingness to donate, negative word-of-mouth, and perceived organizational prestige. Theoretical and practical implications, limitations, and suggestions for new research are discussed.Show less
