The antecedents and consequences of charitable donation heterogeneity on social media

This study claims that donating is a rational behavior that balances altruism and self-interest; therefore, the frequency and magnitude of donating are picked as crucial criteria to classify different crowdfunders because both of them reflect the rationality of donating. This study identifies 6 clusters of crowdfunders and explores the antecedent variables of the typology based on self-system theory, as well as reveals the social influence of different types of crowdfunders. Data of the crowdfunders (n = 13,868) were collected from Micro Philanthropy, a popular SNS crowdfunding platform for charity in China. Social Network Service (SNS) profile information such as network features, social interaction features, and the identity of users was found to be significantly related to the typology. Active donors and bounteous donors are more influential than other donors in absorbing the attention of SNS users and attracting new donors.