Understanding acceptability of non-cash incentives to encourage voluntary blood donation: a psychographic approach

Purpose This research aimed to better understand what influences the acceptability of non-cash incentives to encourage voluntary blood donation among those who have and have not donated blood. Design/methodology/approach This paper used data from two cross-sectional surveys with Australian blood donors ( n = 768) and non-donors ( n = 1,087). Findings Cost-benefit evaluation, embarrassment and deal proneness were found to be important predictors, explaining 4.4%–27.2% of the acceptability of six different types of non-cash incentives, in addition to demographic (age, gender, education, income), geographic (region) and behavioural (blood donor status) characteristics. Cost-benefit evaluation remained the strongest predictor, irrespective of blood donor status. People who were more embarrassed to receive an incentive generally for donating blood were slightly more accepting of health checks and charity donations, and less accepting of deal promotions. People who were more likely to respond to promotional deals generally were also more accepting of all types of incentives for blood donation; interaction effects demonstrated this was particularly true for non-donors. Practical implications Findings direct attention to factors that will improve the design and implementation of incentive programs to maximise their acceptability and impact without undermining organisational reputation, as well as point to psychographic characteristics that should be considered when evaluating the adoption and effectiveness of incentives for encouraging blood donation. Originality/value This paper extends our understanding of what explains the acceptability of different incentive types to encourage voluntary blood donation, beyond geographic, demographic and behavioural characteristics of people who do and do not donate blood.