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Do you like or loathe being asked for a donation at checkout?

Written by Tom Ryan

While Boomers typically aren't crazy about being asked to donate at cash registers, younger generations generally favor the spreading practice.

According to an online survey of 3,030 U.S. consumers taken in May and October last year by Good Scout, a social good consultancy, 60 percent of Boomer respondents dislike being asked to give at a cash register. However, 57 percent of Gen-X respondents and 70 percent of Gen-Y respondents liked being asked.

Another key difference was that 64 percent of Gen-X and 68 percent of Gen-Y respondents felt positively about the retailer after giving versus only 47 percent of Boomers.

Good Scout noted the register donations have become a "mainstream part of our shopping experience" with $350 million raised through charitable checkout campaigns in 2012, according to America's Charity Checkout Champions report. As such, the study explored whether the fundraising tactic had become oversaturated and leading to "consumer fatigue on giving" setting in.

The encouraging stat was that 60 percent of consumers felt positively about the retailer after being asked to donate at the register. Sixty-five percent remembered the last retailer that asked them to give to charity at the register.

Checkout donations
Source: Good Scout Group - “Change at the Checkout”

Other findings:

  • Overall, 71 percent of respondents had donated to charity at the register;
  • Fifty-five percent of respondents liked being asked to give charity at register;
  • Of the 45 percent that that disliked being asked, 35 percent still give because they feel guilty if they don't donate, 21 percent give because the cashier asked them, 12 percent give due to peer pressure and eight percent give because it is "easy to do";
  • Forty-seven percent remembered the last charity they gave to at the register. Asked why they felt compelled to donate at the register, 28 percent indicated charity brand recognition, 27 percent "cause it's personal to me," 14 percent because the cashier asked them, 12 percent because the "cause is emotional," and 10 percent felt peer pressure.

 

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