Polarization in Environmental Donations: Application to Deforestation- Prevention Donation

摘要

One common fundraising strategy used by nonprofit organizations is providing information to persuade potential donors. We theoretically and empirically analyze how in-formation affects people's willingness to do-nate. Our theory suggests when people have different initial beliefs, new information leads to polarization through their understanding and rationalization of social norms. We pro-vide empirical support using an online ex-periment, demonstrating that environmental and public health information leads to po-larization in deforestation prevention dona-tions. Being exposed to information opposite of individuals' existing beliefs reinforces their current opinions. Our results emphasize that implementing information treatment calls for careful deliberation. (JEL Q51)