Name Similarity Encourages Generosity: A Field Experiment in Email Personalization

• Published in: Marketing science (Providence, R.I.) R.I.), 2020-11, Vol.39 (6), p.1071-1091
• Main Authors: Munz, Kurt P., Jung, Minah H., Alter, Adam L.
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Charitable contributions; charitable giving; Charities; Country of origin; Customization; Donations; Donors; Electronic mail systems; Email; Email marketing; Ethnicity; field experiment; Individual differences; individual targeting; Marketing; Methods; Money; Names; one-to-one marketing; personalization; Philanthropy; Social distance; Social networks; Teachers
• ISSN: 0732-2399; 1526-548X
• DOI: 10.1287/mksc.2019.1220

Email field experiment varying whether potential donor has matching surname to in-need teacher and quantifying effectiveness of less-exact matches. In a randomized field experiment with the education charitable giving platform DonorsChoose.org ( N = 30,297), we examined email personalization using a potential donor’s name. We measured the effectiveness of matching potential donors to specific teachers in need based on surname, surname initial letters, gender, ethnicity, and surname country of origin. Full surname matching was most effective, with potential donors being more likely to open an email, click on a link in the email, and donate to teachers who shared their own surname. They also donated more money overall. Our results suggest that uniting people with shared names is an effective individual-level approach to email personalization. Potential donors who shared a surname first letter but not an entire name with teachers also behaved more generously. We discuss how using a person’s name in marketing communications may capture attention and bridge social distance.