Research areas

Current projects

Migration and retention processes in blood donation (Research team: S. Boenigk and C. Saltzmann)

Started: 01/2020

Why do people stop giving blood? How does this migration occur and how can lost donors be won back? A better understanding of the migration of blood donors can help blood donor services to find suitable strategies for early detection and avoidance of migration on the one hand and successful win-back measures on the other. In this project, (1) reasons and characteristics of the migration process will be identified and their influence on the willingness to continue donating blood will be investigated. In addition, (2) a process model will be developed that describes the migration phenomenon. Based on this model, (3) the effect of different retention measures on the blood donation intention will be tested.

Completed research projects

Completed 2019

The changing profile of blood donors: The influence of critical life events and changing socio-demographic as well as psychological factors (Research team: S. Boenigk and M. Soliman)

Understanding behavioral change among blood donors helps nonprofit organizations, particularly blood donation organizations, to apply more effective recruiting and retention programs. To reveal new insights about blood donation behavior, this study investigates (1) the influence of life changing events on blood donors and (2) changes of socio-demographic and psychological factors on blood donation behavior over time. We analyze and compare data from the German socio-economic panel from 2010 and 2015 (N=9320) using propensity score matching and logistic regression analysis. Publication

Completed 2017

Differentiated vs. undifferentiated marketing strategies (Research team: L. Sundermann, S. Boenigk and J. Willems)

Despite strong evidence in current marketing theory and practice that a differentiated marketing approach increases recruitment success, blood services worldwide often use undifferentiated marketing strategies to address new blood donors. Relying on the assumption that differentiated marketing is highly promising; the authors developed an online experiment among 838 participants who had not donated blood during the past 10 years. The experiment tested the effects of a differentiated in comparison to an undifferentiated marketing campaign on three marketing outcomes: (1) awareness, (2) intention, and (3) behavioral enactment. Surprisingly and in contrast with most marketing studies in the for-profit context, the results of the blood donation experiment suggest that differentiated marketing is not more effective than undifferentiated marketing. This finding has important implications for marketing strategies and actions of blood services. Publication

The future blood donor (Research team: L. Sundermann, W. deKort and S. Boenigk)

The Alliance of Blood Operators initiated a project labelled ‘Donor of the Future’. This study gives an overview of the project results, in particular with regard to country differences. A large survey (N = 7663) among blood donors in six countries was conducted to analyse the effects of five global areas of change: (1) demographic change; (2) technological developments; (3) health innovations; (4) public, behavioural and attitudinal aspects; and (5) political, economic and environmental issues.The main results exhibited similarities and differences between blood donors of the participating countries. Greater differences were found, for example, regarding technological developments. Whereas only blood donors from the UK and Australia would like to be informed via SMS, blood donors from all countries would like to be informed via email. Conclusion Different priorities of donors have been uncovered. These differences give suggestions to improve the country-specific donor management. Furthermore, the key findings provide a comprehensive overview of major future research domains. Publication (pdf)

Completed 2016

A comparison of the blood donation behaviour of minorities in 23 countries (Research team: A. von Dongen, M. Mews, W. deKort and E. Wagenmans)

Stable national blood supplies from donated human blood are essential to healthcare services worldwide. Migration has increased over the last years and so more and larger minority groups require blood products in their new countries, often with special characteristics that are not present in the majority population. In many countries however, minorities are less active in blood donations. The Missing Minorities (MIMI) project was initiated by the European Blood Alliance to investigate the problem of low donation rates among minorities. The MIMI project group surveyed 42 blood donation organisations worldwide. The results show a great awareness of the topic, but it is also evident that the applied management strategies are at a very early stage in many countries and that many blood donation organisations in Europe, Australia, Canada and the United States are not yet very successful in recruiting and retaining donors from minority groups. This paper also reports on the different methods of minority blood donor recruitment which have been used by the organisations. These methods require more systematic research in order to verify the findings of the most successful strategies identified in this paper. Overall, this paper can be seen as a first step towards better recruitment methods by showing the current situation, but it is also as a call for more research on the topic. Publication (pdf)

Acquisition of (potential) blood donors in large cities (Research team: S. Boenigk and S. Leipnitz)

In contrast to previous segmentation studies that apply mostly demographic segmentation criteria, this study presents a behavioral segmentation approach to explain how potential blood donors in large cities can be most effectively clustered and acquired. The authors conduct a representative online panel study among 2,062 potential blood donors living in the four largest cities of Germany—Berlin, Hamburg, Munich, and Cologne. Applying explorative factor analysis and cluster analysis, the study identifies and describes seven preference-based blood donor segments. Using the segmentation results, the authors derive several blood donor acquisition strategies that are directly linked to the identified preferences. Publication (pdf)

Completed 2014

Missing Minorities (Research team: S. Boenigk, M. Mews and W. deKort) 

Missing Minorities (MIMI) is a research project initiated by the European Blood Alliance that aims to develop new strategies to recruit blood donors from minority groups. This paper contributes to this larger project by analyzing data of the German Socio-Economic Panel study 2011 that questioned over 20,000 respondents about their blood donation behavior. Within this sample, the authors identify 1,726 potential blood donors from various migrant groups. Applying logistic regression analysis, the authors analyze differences between blood donors and non-donors with migration background. The results show that non-donors trust other people significantly less, use the internet less often, and have a significantly lower reading ability in German. Based on these findings, the authors discuss the current practices in minority blood donor recruitment as found in the MIMI project. Furthermore, promising recruitment tactics for blood donation managers and areas for further research are derived. Publication

Stakeholder Performance Measurement (Research team: S. Leipnitz)

According to recent findings, nonprofit organizations should address the relationships of nonprofit service quality, satisfaction, loyalty, and organizational identification when planning and evaluating donor surveys. This article presents a donor satisfaction barometer that can be used to gain insights into the strength of these key relationships and thereby establish a basis for calculated relevant indices. With such indices, nonprofit organizations can compare stakeholder performance over time and benchmark themselves against other organizations. Data from 2,599 blood donors to one section of the German Red Cross, collected through the proposed donor satisfaction barometer, show that service quality drives satisfaction, and donor satisfaction and organizational identification both exert significant positive effects on donor loyalty. Therefore, nonprofit organizations should use a combined strategic approach that improves both donor satisfaction and organizational identification to increase donor loyalty. The successful application of the donor satisfaction barometer also suggests its value for other nonprofit industries and offers important insights for managers. Publication (pdf)

Completed 2013

Organisational Reputation (Research steam: M. Mews and S. Boenigk)

In Germany, blood donation organizations face a highly competitive environment when it comes to winning new donors and keeping regular donors loyal. Especially in highly competitive markets intangible assets such as organizational reputation and nonprofit brands have shown to be of great importance. This paper examines if blood donation organizations can significantly change the willingness to donate blood among potential blood donors by changing their organizational reputation. Results of an online experiment with 144 potential blood donors show that organizational reputation is easily damaged by negative news in the press and that this leads to a significantly lower willingness to donate blood for this organization among potential donors. Therefore, from a management perspective, the results show that blood donation organizations have to be extremely careful to avoid that negative news is spread and actively manage their reputation. Implications for blood donation management and suggestions for future research are made.

The influence of monetary incentives (Research team: M. Mews)

This study derives four attributes that make up the typical blood donation service bundle. It focuses on the role of monetary incentives in such bundles, but also discusses three other attributes, namely the offering organization, the distance to donation location, and the donation time. Each attribute is discussed in the context of a blood donation marketing mix. In an empirical conjoint study, 529 potential blood donors evaluate different designs of blood donation service bundles. Monetary incentives are found to be the most important factor when donors compare different blood donation service bundles. It is found that the distance to the donation location is almost as important as monetary incentives. Blood donation organizations aiming to collect all blood donations from unremunerated blood donors should therefore shape their service bundles to be attractive for potential blood donors. It is concluded that nonpaying blood donation organizations have to offer superior convenience to their donors to be able to compensate for not offering monetary incentives. Operating with mobile donation teams is one of the concrete suggestions for blood donation marketing that are given in this study. Publication (pdf)

Completed 2011

Altruism, satisfaction and loyalty of first time blood donors (Research team: S. Boenigk, S. Leipnitz, C. Scherhag)

This article is related to the recently initiated discussion on mechanisms of charitable giving and the lack of research on the mix of those mechanisms. On the basis of a comprehensive and interdisciplinary literature review in the area of blood donation management (1970–2010), the authors found that pure altruism, respectively altruistic values, is very often seen as the most important mechanism for giving blood the first time and, moreover, for building blood donor loyalty. This study argues that more knowl-edge on the mix of mechanisms in blood giving is needed. Therefore, this research examined the impact of altruistic values and the donors’ satisfaction with the treatment on blood donor loyalty. Using survey data of the German Red Cross (N = 2149), the authors found that the impact of satisfaction with the treatment on blood donor loyalty is higher compared with altruistic values. Consequently and as one managerial implication, satisfaction measurement and management systems should be reflected more critically by blood donation centres in order to increase blood donations in the future. Publication (pdf)

2018

The role of the licensing effect in the context of prosocial behaviour (Research team: S. Sandner, S. Studte, M. Clement)

Started 09/2018
When good deeds are followed by bad ones... In science, the licensing effect occurs when positive actions in the present have a negative effect on our behaviour in the future. This project studies how good deeds in combination with an appropriate reward in the form of a gift affect the strength and duration of the licensing effect.

2016

Donor loyalty due to thank you messages (Research team: E. Shehu, M. Clement, B. Veseli)

Started 07/2016
An increasing number of blood donation services send thank you messages via SMS after a successful blood donation. Donors can find out whether their blood has been used successfully and could help save a donor's life. The research project focuses on the effect of thank you messages on donor behavior.

2015

Plasmapherese  (Research team: M. Clement, M. Wegner)

Started 08/2015
Besides whole blood donations, it is also possible to donate blood plasma directly. The plasma is separated by a plasmapheresis device. All other blood components are returned to the donor. Within the framework of the research cooperation, we are examining how donors differ from whole blood and plasma and which strategic steps are appropriate for the respective donor group.

Goal achievement and donor loyalty (Research team: M. Clement, M. Wegner, A. Burmester)

Started 08/2015
After a number of successful blood donations, a donor is awarded an honorary pin as a token of gratitude. This project focuses on the blood donation behaviour before and after reaching these thresholds and examines whether blood donors who reach a certain number of blood donations and are honoured for this change their donation behaviour.

Weather influence on the donation behaviour (Research team: M. Clement, M. Wegner)

Started 02/2015
Weather plays a central role in the planning of blood donation appointments. On particularly hot days or black ice, experience shows that donation rates are lower. The influence of different weather components on donation behaviour will be examined at this point. Implications for efficient team planning will be derived.

2014

Donor retention (Research team: S. Leipnitz, M. Clement, M. Wegner, N. Mazar)

Started 04/2014
The retention of active blood donors is of particular importance for blood donation services. The acquisition of new individuals is, analogous to the for-profit sector, many times more expensive than the retention of existing donors. Against this background, we examine the effect of various retention instruments to increase blood donation rates and activate donors to donate regularly.

2012

Deferral Management (Research team: M. Clement, M. Wegner, N. Mazar, A.-C. Langmaack)

Started 01/2012
Due to various reasons (iron deficiency, cold, taking medication) a donor is excluded from donating blood for a certain period of time. This leads to lower response rates from blood donors, which we are increasing within the framework of this project by introducing certain measures.

Completed research projects

Completed 2018

Blood donors in the SOEP (Research team: S. Studte, M. Clement, M. Soliman, S. Boenigk)

The Socio-Economic Panel (SOEP) is a representative repeat survey. Commissioned by DIW Berlin, TNS Infratest Sozialforschung surveys about 30,000 respondents in almost 11,000 households in Germany every year. In addition to questions on income, employment, and education, the panel also includes questions on general donor behavior and blood donation in the strict sense, which are studied in this project.

Effects of deferrals (Research team: M. Clement, M. Wegner)

In the case of blood donors, temporary deferrals are sometimes made by persons willing to donate for medical reasons. This project focuses on measures to reduce the negative effects.

The influence of blood check-ups on donor motivation (Research team: S. Leipnitz, M. Wegner, M. Clement, N. Mazar)

The communication of blood values (postal dispatch of blood tests to the donors) after a successful blood donation should, in a first step, increase donor motivation and lead to an increased blood donation frequency. At the same time, it is possible for blood donors to use the evaluation of the blood count as an opportunity to take measures to improve their blood values in case of abnormalities. Within the framework of the research cooperation, we are examining whether such long-term effects on blood donor retention can be achieved by communicating blood values to the donors. Publication

Completed 2015

Blood donor profiles (Research team: E. Shehu, A.-C. Langmaack, E. Felchle,  M. Clement)

The pool of active donors includes a large number of blood donor profiles that differ in their demographics (gender, age, blood group) and donation history (donor since, number of donations made). This research project examines the extent to which a differentiated approach to blood donors using the available marketing and communication tools can increase efficiency and reduce costs while increasing the donation rate. Publication