Feeling good about giving: The benefits (and costs) of self-interested charitable behavior

© 2011 by Taylor and Francis Group, LLC.Helping others takes countless forms, from giving money to charity to help-ing a stranger dig his car out of the snow, and springs from countless moti-vations, from deep-rooted empathy to a more calculated desire for public recognition. Indeed, social scientists have identified a host of ways in which charitable behavior can lead to benefits for the giver, whether economically via tax breaks (Clotfelter, 1985, 1997; Reece & Zieschang 1985), socially via signaling one’s wealth or status (Becker 1974; Glazer & Konrad 1996; Griskevicius et al., 2007) or psychologically via experiencing well-being from helping (Andreoni, 1989, 1990; Dunn, Aknin, & Norton, 2008). Charitable organizations have traditionally capitalized on all of these motivations for giving, from attempting to engage consumers with emotionladen advertising to pushing governments to offer tax incentives. The psychological benefits of giving are underscored by Bono’s quote above, referring to the Product (RED) campaign, in which a portion of profits from consumer purchases of luxury goods is donated to the Global Fund for AIDS relief. Giving feels good, so why not advertise the benefits of “self-interested giving, " allowing people to experience that good feeling while increasing contributions to charity at the same time?.