Predicting future blood donor returns: Past behavior, intentions, and observer effects.

Abstract

A prospective design was used to explore the efficacy of 6 factors (e.g., intentions) to predict the number of future blood donations in an initial sample of 630 blood donors. Differential predictions are made for the roles of past behavior and intentions with respect to occasional (4 or fewer previous blood donations) and regular (5 or more previous blood donations) blood donors. Intentions were predictive for occasional donors, and past behavior was predictive for regular donors. Furthermore, for regular donors only, an inverted U-shaped curve explained the relationship between past behavior and future behavior. Finally, it is reported that observing others fainting produces a reduction in the number of future donations for occasional donors. The theoretical and practical implications of these findings are discussed.

The Interplay Between Goal Intentions and Implementation Intentions

“…For instance, a meta-analysis by Ouellette and Wood (1998) showed that for behaviors performed frequently in stable contexts (i.e., circumstances conducive to habit formation), habits provided much better prediction of behavior than did intentions. However, the reverse was true for behaviors performed infrequently in unstable contexts (see also Albarracin, Kumkale, & Johnson, 2002;Ferguson & Bibby, 2002;Verplanken, Aarts, van Knippenberg, & Moonen, 1998; however, see Kashima, Gallois, & McCamish, 1993;Sheeran & Abraham, 2003, for exceptions). The implication of these analyses is that behavior is either controlled by habits or by goal intentions.…”

Fostering Sustainable Nutrition Behavior through Gamification

“…However, knowledge alone is not enough: Humans are creatures of habit and habitual behavioral patterns prevent them from adopting a more climate-friendly lifestyle [19]. As habitual behavior is dependent on personal surroundings and, to a lesser extent, under greater intentional control than non-habitual behavior, traditional knowledge-oriented, educational approaches to change habits are not considered to be very effective [20][21][22]. One alternative approach already studied in the context of nutrition and health-related behavior is the use of social mechanisms to influence self-efficacy and social norms and thus improve selfregulation skills.…”

Theory of Planned Behavior

“…Although anxiety or distress about donation is an important consideration for both non-donors and donors alike, 35,36 the donation anxiety items used in the present study did not incorporate an assessment of the physiological reactions (e.g., dizziness, nausea) that may be experienced when donating blood. 29 These physiological reactions have been demonstrated as an important factor in the decision to donate blood initially and to return for subsequent donations.…”

“…Although not a measure of behavior, intentions are the most consistent predictor of behavior particularly for new and less experienced donors, 22,35,36 and a suitable proxy measure for behavior when actual behavior cannot be measured. 16,37 The augmented TPB model assessed non-donors' blood donation intentions as well as the standard (attitude, subjective norm, and PBC) and extended (donation anxiety, anticipated regret, descriptive norm, personal norm) TPB constructs.…”

“…Of the 195 respondents, the majority were married (67.2%), had either finished high school or attended college or University (86.7%), and had a median age of [35][36][37][38][39][40][41][42][43][44] years (with 65% of respondents aged 25-54 years).…”