Purpose

This study aims to empirically test the proposition that high narcissistic consumers are more likely to perform donation-related behavior, such as the intention to donate and to share the donation link, compared to low narcissistic consumers when the organization’s reputation is high. Built upon the evolutionary psychology theory, this study proposes that narcissism activates the status motive, and the relationship between narcissism, organization reputation and donation-related behavior can be explained by status motive.

Design/methodology/approach

The current research comprises two between-subject experimental studies that use both measured and manipulated narcissism subsequently, whereas the organization’s reputation was manipulated in both studies.

Findings

The results demonstrate that narcissistic consumers are more likely to donate and to share the donation advertisement when the donation organization is perceived as having a high (vs low) prestige. Further, the status motive mediates the effect of narcissism on donation decisions only when the donation organization is perceived as having high (vs low) prestige.

Research limitations/implications

This research’s main limitation is that it only examines two alternate ways to improve perceived organization’s reputation (e.g. highlight the organization’s reputational features and link to reputable entities such as celebrities), although organizational literature suggests that perceived organization reputation can be improved in many ways.

Practical implications

From a practical perspective, social marketers and donation organizations potentially benefit from this research because it demonstrates that high narcissistic consumers potentially involve in donation-related behaviors more than consumers with low narcissism when the organization is perceived as highly reputable.

Originality/value

The current research contributes to the narcissism literature and adds to the evolutionary psychology theory by providing empirical evidence that narcissism, whether manifesting as a trait or a state, can activate a status motive that leads to prosocial behavior, but only when the donation organization is perceived as prestigious.

中文翻译：

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将自恋者变成亲社会代理人：解释年轻人的在线捐赠行为

目的

这项研究旨在通过经验证明，与自恋型消费者在组织声誉较高时相比，自恋型较高的消费者更有可能执行与捐赠相关的行为，例如捐赠和共享捐赠链接的意图。该研究建立在进化心理学理论的基础上，提出自恋激活了身份动机，自恋，组织声誉和捐赠相关行为之间的关系可以用身份动机来解释。

设计/方法/方法

当前的研究包括两项受试者间实验研究，随后都使用了自恋和操纵自恋，而在这两项研究中都操纵了组织的声誉。

发现

结果表明，自恋型消费者更有可能在捐赠组织被认为具有较高（相对较低）声誉的情况下捐赠和分享捐赠广告。此外，只有当捐赠组织被认为具有较高（相对较低）的声望时，地位动机才可以调节自恋对捐赠决定的影响。

研究局限/意义

这项研究的主要局限性在于，它仅考察了两种替代方法来提高组织的知名度（例如，突出组织的声誉特征并与知名人士（例如名人）建立联系），尽管组织文献表明，可以从许多方面提高组织的知名度。

实际影响

从实践的角度来看，社会营销人员和捐赠组织可能会从这项研究中受益，因为它表明，自恋程度高的消费者在组织中被认为享有很高的声誉时，与自恋程度低的消费者相比，与自恋相关的行为可能会更多地参与与捐赠相关的行为。

创意/价值

当前的研究为自恋文学做出了贡献，并通过提供经验证据证明自恋，无论是表现为一种特质还是一种状态，都可以激活导致亲社会行为的地位动机，但仅在意识到捐赠组织的情况下，这有助于发展自恋心理学。享有盛誉。