The Pledging Puzzle: How Can Revocable Promises Increase Charitable Giving
通过理论和实验研究，发现承诺可用于筛选捐赠者并了解其动机，非营利组织据此定向表达感谢可减少违约，为承诺的有效性提供解释。
What is the value of pledges if they are often reneged upon? In this paper, we show—both theoretically and experimentally—that pledges can be used to screen donors and to better understand their motives for giving. In return, nonprofit managers can use the information they glean from pledges to better target future charitable giving appeals and interventions to donors, such as expressions of gratitude. In an experiment, we find that offering the option to pledge gifts induces self-selection. If expressions of gratitude are then targeted to individuals who select into pledges, reneging can be significantly reduced. Our findings provide an explanation for the potential usefulness of pledges. This paper was accepted by Yan Chen, decision analysis.