Improving Blood Donor Retention and Donor Relationships with Past Donation Use Appeals

• Published in: Journal of service research : JSR 2024-08, Vol.27 (3), p.346-363
• Main Authors: Shehu, Edlira, Veseli, Besarta, Clement, Michel, Winterich, Karen Page
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Blood & organ donations
• ISSN: 1094-6705; 1552-7379
• DOI: 10.1177/10946705231202244

Blood donation services seek new strategies to improve donor relationships and increase donor retention. In this study, we propose a novel strategy that employs appeals with feedback on the use of blood donors’ past donations. We theorize that this feedback increases the perceived relationship investment and, subsequently, the quality of the relationship with the blood donation service, thereby increasing redonations. An online experiment shows the positive effect of past donation use appeals on donation intention and transmission through perceived relationship investment and relationship quality. Three field studies with Red Cross Blood Donation Services confirm the effectiveness of past donation use appeals on redonation behavior compared with thank-you appeals and with a future donation use appeal. Past donation use appeals are effective for retention purposes, especially for more experienced donors and when sent shortly after the donation. Such appeals also lead to higher reactivation rates of inactive donors. In addition to having practical implications, the study contributes to the relationship and nonprofit service literature. Graphical Abstract