Motivation in Italian whole blood donors and the role of commitment

Abstract

The literature contains numerous reports on motivation in blood donors, although none of these are specific to blood donation in Italy and almost all of them focus on altruism and the desire to help others. Altruism is important, but a comprehensive analysis of donor motivation should examine all the factors affecting the decision to donate, including commitment to voluntary blood donor organizations. The aims of this paper are to verify if the motivational factors that influence the choice to donate blood in Italy are generally consistent with the findings from other countries reported in the literature and to focus on commitment to donor organizations as an additional factor. A sample of 895 whole blood donors completed a self-report questionnaire containing questions about: reasons for beginning to donate, people who influenced this choice, and level of commitment to voluntary blood donor organizations. The most frequently reported reasons for giving blood for the first time were "to help others" (56%), "influence of family/friends" (22%), and "social/moral obligation" (11.2%); commitment did not vary as a function of the leading motivation reported. Differences emerged between males, who more frequently reported having been influenced by parents and friends, and females, who referred more often to altruistic motives. The opportunity to check one's own state of health also played an important role (6.9%), especially for male donors. Overall, however, the decision to donate was primarily a personal choice (41.3%), although influence was also attributed to relatives (21.8%), friends (22.3%), and voluntary blood donor organizations (21.8%). The reported level of commitment to the donor organization was positively correlated with the number of total and annual donations made and number of new donors recruited.

Who donates? Cross‐country and periodical variation in blood donor demographics in Europe between 1994 and 2014

“…3,18 A potential explanation is that the gap is closing because of gender differences in motivation. Because women more often report motivation for altruistic reasons, 29,46 and recruitment strategies in Europe-which have been professionalized over recent decades-emphasize voluntary, non-remunerated blood donation, 1 these strategies might be disproportionately successful in motivating women. 27,46 The declining gender gap also may be related to the changing patterns we observed in the relationship between education and blood donation.…”

“…4,18,[20][21][22][23][24][25][26] In these studies, the typical donor is male, well educated, healthy, white, married with children, and has a rare blood type. 4,6,26 In addition, within the overall population of donors, different donor profiles have been distinguished on the basis of gender, age, socioeconomic status, and ethnicity, 9,11,16,20,[27][28][29] with the frequency of blood donation being significantly higher for male, older, white, and educated individuals. 26 Previous cross-country research on the basis of the 1994 Eurobarometer found differences in donation rates between the EU12.…”

What motivates men to donate blood? A systematic review of the evidence

“…The use of promotional tools such as advertising, public relations, personal selling, sales promotion, and direct and online marketing to recruit and/or retain donors Direct marketing [30] Nonpersonal and personal communications aimed at gaining a direct response, such as blood donation Advertising [30,37] Any paid form of nonpersonal presentation and promotion of blood donation by an identified sponsor Incentives Events or objects that increase or induce drives or determination to donate blood Perceived health benefits [30,37,41,42,45] A belief that donating blood will provide positive health effects Attitude towards incentives [23,24,30,32,39,48] A positive or negative evaluation of receiving incentives to encourage or reward blood donation behaviour Health check [25,32,33,37,42,48] A health screening that is provided as part of the donation process Time off work or school [23,32,39] Release from work, school or other commitments for donating blood Gift item [24,30,39,48] Receipt of items in exchange for donating, such as t-shirts, key rings, coffee mugs, etc Infectious disease screening [30,32,37,47] Tests performed on donated blood to screen for infectious diseases, such as AIDS or hepatitis Recognition [23,48] Formal acknowledgement of contribution from the collection agency Social norms Expectations, obligations, and sanctions currently anchored in social groups Descriptive norms [25] Perceptions of how significant others typically behave in a given situation Subjective norms [23,…”

Blood donor behaviour, motivations and the need for a systematic cross‐cultural perspective: the example of moral outrage and health‐ and non‐health‐based philanthropy across seven countries

“…Furthermore, the blood collection process is largely community-based via organizations such as Avis. Indeed, family influence is cited as a significant predictor of blood donation in Italy [51,52]. As such, this link in Italy, more than other countries, seems plausible and interpretable.…”