BlueSky Thinking Summary

Giving-by-proxy refers to "when a company donates on behalf of consumers for each purchase," and it has been popularized by companies like Bomba's and Tom's.

Maryam Kouchaki and her team at Kellogg School researched how this practice influences subsequent charitable behavior.

Contrary to any concerns about licensing on morals, experiences with giving-by-proxy, according to their research, do increase the likelihood of prosocial actions in the future for people.

It provides evidence that, across all experiments, participants displayed a greater interest in charitable bonuses after experiencing giving-by-proxy, even when this was the case with regard to control over the initial donation recipient.

This effect spilled over into real-world contexts, such as AmazonSmile, where participants were more likely to donate raffle winnings to charity.

The findings suggest that giving-by-proxy does not just encourage immediate giving;

it also fosters a culture of philanthropy.

These are scalable insights which companies and organizations can use to create wider social impacts and increase consumer and employee engagement in creative and socially responsible activities.