The impact of national charitable donations on domestic product’s market competitiveness: evidence from the 2008 Wenchuan Earthquake

• National charitable donations have a positive impact on the competitiveness of domestic products. • Consumer social concerns moderate the relationship between charitable donations and product competitiveness. • National charitable donations have short-term and long-term effects and maintain a competitive landscape. Based on the 2008 Wenchuan Earthquake in China, the study utilises national charitable donations, automobile sales, earthquake intensity, and resident charitable activity data to examine how national charitable donations in a disaster context enhance domestic brand products’ market competitiveness. The study indicates that, influenced by the Country-of-Origin (COO) effect and other factors, national charitable donations during a disaster positively increase the relative market share of domestic products. Specifically, consumers in the recipient country not only respond to the strength of the total donation scale but also recognise the impact of donation intensity based on the country’s socio-economic context. Furthermore, the study reveals that consumers’ general charity concern and self-loss concern can strengthen the positive impact of national charitable donations on product competitiveness. Moreover, the short-term benefits of national charitable donations are substantial, even though they decline over time. However, the competitive advantage structure will be maintained. These findings enrich the theories of COO effects, social concerns, and related subjects from a charity perspective, offering new insights for international commercial competition and cross-national market management.