Keeping the Memory but Not the Possession: Memory Preservation Mitigates Identity Loss from Product Disposition
研究发现消费者因不舍有情感价值的物品而阻碍捐赠，提出记忆保存策略（如捐赠前拍照）可缓解身份丧失感，从而增加捐赠量，对非营利组织提升库存有实际指导意义。
Nonprofit firms’ reliance on donations to build inventory distinguishes them from traditional retailers. This reliance on consumer donations means that these organizations face an inherently more volatile supply chain than retailers that source inventory from manufacturers. The authors propose that consumer reluctance to part with possessions with sentimental value causes a bottleneck in the donation process. The goal of this research is therefore to provide nonprofits with tools to increase donations of used goods and provide a theoretical link between the literature streams on prosocial behavior, disposition, memory, and identity. As such, the authors explore the effectiveness of memory preservation strategies (e.g., taking a photo of a good before donating it) in increasing donations to nonprofits. A field study using a donation drive demonstrates that encouraging consumers to take photos of sentimental possessions before donating them increases donations, and five laboratory experiments explicate this result by mapping the proposed psychological process behind the success of memory preservation techniques. Specifically, these techniques operate by ameliorating consumers’ perceived identity loss when considering donation of sentimental goods.