Segmenting blood donors in developing countries

Abstract

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to demonstrate that there are three major blood donor segments in China, namely benefit-oriented donors, altruistic donors and health salience donors, with the use of factor-cluster segmentation approach. It also investigates the blood donation attitudes, group characteristics, and preference for information acquisition of the identified donor segments. Design/methodology/approach – A factor-cluster segmentation approach was used in this study. A questionnaire survey on Chinese respondents who had just completed a blood donation process was conducted in China and 7-point Likert-type questions were used to measure the respondents’ attitude toward blood donation, their motivation to donate blood, lifestyles, demographics and information acquisition. K-means non-hierarchical clustering method was used to segment groups of blood donors. ANOVAs were conducted to assess the differences regarding the blood donation factors across the cluster segments. Findings – Results demonstrate that there are three blood donor segments as predicted. Benefit-oriented donors are found to be the largest cluster (42.6 per cent), followed by altruistic donors (29.6 per cent) and health salience donors (27.8 per cent). The three clusters of donors show some extent of differences in attitudes toward blood donation, lifestyles and preference for information acquisition. Social implications – Through a better understanding of the donor segments, a more effective marketing communication strategy can be formulated. This can promote more blood donation by the first-time and repeat blood donors and may save many more lives in a society. Originality/value – The major advertising appeal for blood donation is altruistic in nature, particularly in Western countries. However, in other emerging countries such as China, some other appeals may be even more effective. Benefit appeal or health fitness appeal may be a better option in marketing communication strategy

Blood donors' usage intentions of donation appointment‐scheduling systems during the COVID‐19 pandemic and beyond

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The COVID-19 Pandemic Changes the Nudging Effect of Social Information on Individuals' Blood Donation Intention

“…Previous studies have focused on the nudging effects of information methods, such as sending reminders, providing feedback, and strengthening social norms (Sun et al, 2019 ; Goette and Tripodi, 2020 ; e.g., Fosgaard et al, 2020 ). As for social information itself, existing literature recommends developing differentiated strategies only on the basis of subdividing blood donor types (Zhou et al, 2012 ), without establishing a holistic framework to systematically analyze how information can effectively nudge the intention to donate blood. This study uses a survey experiment to quantitatively study the influence of the three Ws of social information on individuals' blood donation intention, which complements the current research on the nudging mechanism of blood donation intention and behavior.…”

Help Is in Your Blood—Incentive to “Double Altruism” Resolves the Plasma Donation Paradox

“…Moreover, the motivations of blood and plasma donors differ even before the first donation (Veldhuizen and Van Dongen, 2013 ), so it is unclear whether the results of research on voluntary blood donors can be translated into country-specific remunerated plasma donation practices. In addition, although there are precedents for applying the results of a study directly by a blood collection center (Leipnitz et al, 2018 ), most researchers give advice to blood and plasma collection centers without testing the effectiveness of the proposed messages (Godin et al, 2005 , 2007 ; Zhou et al, 2012 ). Taking into account that theoretical conclusions might not necessarily be utilized in real-life contexts, it would be particularly important in the future to test the effectiveness of advertising messages by allowing the collaboration of collection centers and researchers.…”