Examining if Sending Text Messages to Thank Blood Donors for Saving Lives Is a "Great Idea"? Evidence from a Randomized Field Experiment

• Published in: Journal of nonprofit & public sector marketing Vol. 31; no. 5; pp. 486 - 506
• Main Authors: Moussaoui, Lisa S., Herren-Vichet, Joëlle, Baldelli, Serena, Waldvogel, Sophie, Desrichard, Olivier
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Binghamton Routledge 20.10.2019; Taylor & Francis LLC
• Subjects: blood donation; blood donor retention; Experiments; short message; SMS; Text message; Text messaging
• ISSN: 1049-5142; 1540-6997
• DOI: 10.1080/10495142.2018.1526753

Texting blood donors to thank them for saving lives has generated great enthusiasm, but do these messages increase donor return rates? In fact, nobody knows. We addressed this lack of evidence by conducting a randomized experiment to measure the effectiveness of thank-you messages. Our experiment involved assigning donors to either a control condition (no message) or an experimental condition (thank-you message), and assessing differences in return rates six to ten months later. We also measured potential mediators with an online survey sent to a subgroup of participants. Return rates were significantly higher in the experimental group than in the control group, but the difference was small. Results of the online survey suggested that the effect might be attributable to sharing the text increasing the perceived number of donors (i.e., descriptive norm). Given the small gain attributable to the text message in terms of donors return, more studies and cost-benefit analyses are needed before systematically sending thank-you messages to donors.