Presentation Type
Poster
Presentation Type
Submission
Keywords
Mindsets, Virtue Signaling, Voluntary Recognition, Obligatory Recognition, Volunteering, Goal Orientation, Nonprofits.
Department
Business Administration
Major
Integrated Marketing Communication
Abstract
Virtue signaling, or publicly showing off one’s good character or actions to others, has been studied in many contexts. This research expands on previous work and focuses on investigating the impact of fixed vs. growth mindsets on virtue signaling in a volunteering context. Mindsets, in the context of this research, are the beliefs people hold about the consistency of human’s personality as well as their moral characteristics. We hypothesize that given the different goal orientations of people with growth vs. fixed mindsets, the impact of obligatory virtue signaling on volunteer behavior will be stronger among people with a growth (vs. fixed) mindset since obligatory (vs. voluntary) signaling reduces the “showing off” concern. We additionally explore potential mitigating and augmenting factors of this moderation, including the perceived relevance of the audience for any virtue signaling and the likelihood that virtue signaling would yield a favorable judgment. To investigate the validity of our hypothesized relationships, 62 Pepperdine students participated in a pretest during the Fall 2023 semester. Results show that people with a growth mindset were more interested in volunteering, were more OK with receiving recognition from volunteering, and were more OK with receiving obligatory recognition from volunteering than were people with a fixed mindset. This work underscores the importance of understanding mindsets and recognitions as nonprofits devise marketing programs to target volunteers. Future work includes implementing an online survey at Cedars-Sinai with 100 current volunteers and looking at perceived efficacy as a mediating variable to the relationship between mindset and volunteering.
Faculty Mentor
Alice Labban, Steven Bauer, Corinne Novell
Funding Source or Research Program
Academic Year Undergraduate Research Initiative
Location
Waves Cafeteria
Start Date
22-3-2024 1:30 PM
End Date
22-3-2024 2:30 PM
Included in
Marketing Commons, Nonprofit Studies Commons, Psychology Commons
Mindset, Virtue Signaling and Volunteering
Waves Cafeteria
Virtue signaling, or publicly showing off one’s good character or actions to others, has been studied in many contexts. This research expands on previous work and focuses on investigating the impact of fixed vs. growth mindsets on virtue signaling in a volunteering context. Mindsets, in the context of this research, are the beliefs people hold about the consistency of human’s personality as well as their moral characteristics. We hypothesize that given the different goal orientations of people with growth vs. fixed mindsets, the impact of obligatory virtue signaling on volunteer behavior will be stronger among people with a growth (vs. fixed) mindset since obligatory (vs. voluntary) signaling reduces the “showing off” concern. We additionally explore potential mitigating and augmenting factors of this moderation, including the perceived relevance of the audience for any virtue signaling and the likelihood that virtue signaling would yield a favorable judgment. To investigate the validity of our hypothesized relationships, 62 Pepperdine students participated in a pretest during the Fall 2023 semester. Results show that people with a growth mindset were more interested in volunteering, were more OK with receiving recognition from volunteering, and were more OK with receiving obligatory recognition from volunteering than were people with a fixed mindset. This work underscores the importance of understanding mindsets and recognitions as nonprofits devise marketing programs to target volunteers. Future work includes implementing an online survey at Cedars-Sinai with 100 current volunteers and looking at perceived efficacy as a mediating variable to the relationship between mindset and volunteering.