The Impact of Gender on Donation - Research Paper Example

Executive Summary In order to have a successful venture in charitable work, it is important that one understands the characteristics of the target market. With enough knowledge of the unique traits and needs, it is easier to manage the group and hence ascertain success. As a result, this study sought to identify the bracket of the society that could be best for a charitable institution and point out why this bracket was best fit for that particular charitable venture. In this case, the charitable organization was an organization that would cater for breast cancer patients. The target market was women of all age brackets but mostly of an advanced age. This bracket was chosen because they are easy to meet, easily manipulated through emotional enticement, they tend to have more money and finally they would identify with the problem of breast cancer. They would feel that this is a problem for women and they could at any point become victims. With all these, it would be easy to strategize and maximize on them. Introduction Success in any business venture is determined by a proper analysis of the market. A well-developed market characteristic helps the marketer to develop informed decisions in his effort to strategize. This is especially true considering the fact that each market segment has its unique characteristics that offer either an opportunity or drawback to the ultimate objective of the organization. Similarly, success in any charitable venture is founded on the degree of comprehension of the target market. By understanding the unique characteristics of each demographic segment of the market, the objectives of the charity become easier to achieve. Understanding the unique characteristics also helps a marketer group his target segment into small groups comprising of people with similar characteristics and who are easier to manage (Anderson 2008).Therefore, this study seeks to identify the key characteristics of the different segments of the market and hence develop a strategy that would be appropriate for a successful charity. Specifically, the charitable objective is to raise money for breast cancer patients within the localities of High Wycombe. Methodology & Sampling Sampling Considering the diversity in characterization of the different demographic brackets, it was imperative that age and gender be put in consideration. The samples used in this study involved students from various universities and colleges around High Wycombe. These represented the younger generation. Also included in the samples were people over thirty years. Within the over thirty age bracket, further subdivisions were made. The study put in consideration those working fulltime, part time and those who had no job at all. These subdivisions were especially necessary because they helped identify whether having a job would be a contributing factor to an individual’s willingness to contribute to charity. In addition, gender considerations were also ensured. The samples involved both men and women for the younger and the older generations. The diversity in the sampling was meant to ensure a diversity of qualities that would be put together to come up with an appropriate strategy. In total, 150 female students and 100 male students were interviewed through direct interviews or through questionnaires. In addition, 75 females over thirty years and 35 males of the similar age bracket were used. In total, the study included 360 respondents. Methodology To facilitate data collection, questionnaires were used as the main tool. A questionnaire was prepared according to the target market segment. Different questions were posed to the student female segment, student male segment, over thirty female segment and over thirty male segments. The respondents were required to answer open-ended questions that were designed to show their consumer behavior and decision-making. In addition, interviews were carried with similar objectives as the questionnaires. Several methods of interviewing were utilized. To begin with, the researchers used direct interviews for the students. Most of the over thirty age group was busy at work therefore being accessible to questionnaires and online interviews. In some few occasions, telephone interviews were used as a tool for data collection. Criticism Although the study can be considered reliable, some flaws were recognized in the process of data collection. These flaws could lead to shortcomings that would, on their part lead to failure of a given strategy founded on this basis. One of the conspicuous drawbacks in the study included the sampling criteria. Most of the respondents were students from local universities and colleges. However, these students are not basically natives of High Wycombe. Most of them come from different regions from the globe. This would mean that there cultures are completely different from that of High Wycombe. In addition, each student comes from a different background. The family culture could contribute greatly to their dispensation towards contributing towards charity (Esposito 2001; Milward Brown 2009). Burlingham (1998) points out that sampling efficiency can only be determined by identifying three aspects. Its representation of the total population, its size and sample implementation. Of these three aspects, size and representation seem to be one of the determinants of weakness in the study. The size of the population used could not be used solidly, to determine the overall perception of the people of High Wycombe. Furthermore, some parts of the population have been omitted. For instance, the researchers assumed that all people below thirty were students in one of the institutions. This justified their decision to use respondents who were thirty and above and students (Webster 1991). Findings Gender After a period of data collection and analysis, several findings were registered. First, gender played a great role in the general disposition to contribute to charity. The study found out that 67 % of all the female respondents had contributed to charity and were willing to continue contributing. This was opposed to men who had 34% of the respondents having contributed to charity. This points out that women had characteristics that made them more likely to contribute to charity. Emotions were also established as a factor that contributed to an individual’s disposition to giving. In the study, 41% of men felt guilty for failing to give as opposed to 59% of females who felt guilty if they failed to donate to charity. Volunteering to charity was also found to be more for women than men. 49% of men would volunteer to a charitable endeavor as opposed to 70% of women who would do the same (Kalafatis & Cheston 1997). Religious Inclination Religion was part of the factors that led to ease of giving to charity. It was found that 70% of all respondents who generously donated to charity had some religious orientation. Age Bracket Those who owned homes donated more as compared to those who stayed in rental houses. This finding affected the directly the age bracket. It was found that people in their late 50s donated more than their younger counterparts within the age thirty and above bracket. Equally, respondents in the 30 and above brackets tended to have involved more in the charitable endeavors as opposed to schooling respondents. Furthermore, the comparison of size of the donations between the school going respondents and those above thirty showed that the later gave more. However, respondents in colleges and universities participated more in volunteer activities as opposed to the bracket of the respondents above thirty years. Marriage Putting the whole sample together, it was identified that married couples gave more than non-married singles of all age brackets. Conclusion and Recommendations Considering the findings above, it was evident that gender had the greatest impact in a person’s disposition towards giving. Women of all ages were more likely to give as compared to men. In addition, emotions played another important role in donation to charity. This is very important in decision making in the formation of a charitable institution. Considering that women mostly felt guilty whenever they failed to donate, it could be important to put this in consideration whenever coming up with policies concerning the organization. The above showed that the best approach to a charitable venture has to put women in consideration. This is because women are most likely to give to charity as opposed to their male counterparts. This is the reason why the researchers opted to resort for a charitable endeavor for women with breast cancer. First, the issue of breast cancer is mostly associated with women. Although men are also part of the problem, their cases are comparatively less. As a result, it becomes an issue that is more feminine than masculine. Furthermore, the patients of cancer undergo great pains. This gives it a strategic position whenever emotional approach is to be involved. As mentioned earlier, most women felt guilty if they failed to donate to charity. This simply confirms the assertion that women judge using emotions while men judge basing on facts. The best way to approach women will therefore include attacking her emotional capacity. In most cases, aged people have finished paying their mortgages and have their children living independently. This justifies the reason why older people are easy to donate and donate more. Furthermore, findings show that people who owned homes were most likely to donate as compared to those who lived in rented houses. In addition, 70% of all the respondents who donated to charity had some religious inclination. All these findings point to one thing. The best approach of setting up a charity organization for women with breast cancer can be very successful if it took some religious touch. This is not to say that it should incline towards Christianity or Islam, but a neutral position that recognizes the value of giving as a sacred venture without exactly pointing out the real religion (Bonoma 1984; Schervish & John 1991). This approach is relevant because it will tap from the religious organizations, which the findings point out that 70% of all the respondents who had positively acknowledged giving had some religious inclination. In addition, the largest number of people in churches is mostly women. Furthermore, the older women make the largest percentage of the church congregations. Luckily, these are identified as the most likely to contribute to charity. Therefore, giving the charitable organization for women living with breast cancer is very likely to be a success if the religious aspect is well incorporated. In conclusion, coming up with a charitable institution that helps women suffering from breast cancer will be a success because of the following factors. Women make largest demographic bracket that contribute most in charity. Second, the issue affects women more than it affects men hence they are very likely to participate. Third, women judge using emotions making them easy targets of emotional appeals and finally, women tend to more religious as opposed to men. This makes it easily accessible. It is also important to consider that older women form the largest bracket of churchgoers and at the same time are the best givers to charity. This means that starting an organization that looks like it belongs to women can easily succeed. Reference List Bonoma, S., 1984. Segmenting Industrial Markets, New York: Lexington Books. Bremner, R., 1994. Giving: Charity and Philanthropy in History. New Brunswick, NJ: Transaction Publishers. Burlingame, D., 1998 .Altruism and Philanthropy: Definitional Issues. Essays on Philanthropy, No 10. Indianapolis: Indiana University Center on Philanthropy, Page 1. Dubes, R. and Jain, A., 1976. “Clustering techniques: the user’s dilemma”, Pattern Recognition, Vol. 8, pp. 247-60. Esposito, M., 2001 .Motivations and Concerns of Philanthropic Donor. National Center for Family Philanthropy. Esslemont, D. and Ward, T., 1989, “The stability of segmentation solutions in a commercial survey”, New Zealand Journal of Business, Vol. 11, pp. 89- Frank, R., 1996 .Motivation, Cognition, and Charitable Giving.. In Giving: Western Ideas of Philanthropy. Edited by J.B. Schneewind. Indiana: Indiana University Press, pp. 130-152. Frank, R. and Strain, A., 1972, “A segmentation research design using consumer panel data”, Journal of Marketing Research, Vol. 9, pp. 385-90. Kalafatis, S. and Cheston, V., 1997 Normative Models and Practical Applications of Segmentation in Business Markets“, Industrial Marketing Management 26, Elsevier Milward Brown., 2009. Should my advertising stimulate an emotional response? 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