Just Give Me A Reason: How goal setting increases the number of blood donations

Abstract

In general, there is a positive attitude towards blood donation but only a very small percentage of the population are eligible to donate blood actually does. Based on ability-opportunity-motivation theory and goal-setting theory, we espouse that asking potential donors to commit to a donation goal in the form of a specific reason for donating blood increases donation frequency.

In an online experiment with a sample of 168 respondents conducted in Austria, different donation goals were developed based on medical data and tested. As a result, we were able to show that asking people to “just” donate, which is currently the standard communication approach of many blood donation organizations, if applied to 100 potential donors would result in 98 blood donations. However, motivating blood donors to reach a goal that requires multiple blood donations more than doubles the number of blood donations over the course of a year. If we think one step further and have potential blood donors select the most appropriate donation goal for them based on the effectiveness, this will triple the amount of blood donated compared to "just donate blood again”.

The goal of blood donor organizations should therefore be to use appropriate communication measures to encourage potential blood donors to commit to a blood donation goal that suits them best. This could then motivate them to donate blood more frequently, which would increase the amount of blood donated and secure a continuous supply of much-needed blood.