You, you’ve got thousands of followers on Twitter, hundreds of Facebook friends and an enviable Klout score as a result. And, according to some early research from Professor Kimberley Scharf at the University of Warwick in the UK, you’re probably a selfish SOB when it comes to donating to charities! Scharf’s thinking is highlighted in her theoretical research paper, “ Private Provision of Public Goods and Information Diffusion in Social Groups .” Scharf is an economist at the University of Warwick’s Centre for Competitive Advantage in the Global Economy. “Information transmission about giving opportunities is undermined by free-riding incentives,” Scharf said in a press account. “I count on other neighbours to convey information and so save on the effort of doing it myself,” she said. “As well as relying on others to pass on information, it may also be true that people are even relying on others to donate.” In economics a free-rider is someone who receives benefits from an activi...
Dedicated to highlighting and dissecting the best and the worst cause marketing promotions and campaigns.