The impact of online financial disclosure and donations in nonprofits

Decreased public confidence and trust in the nonprofit sector has fueled increased calls for transparency. In response, federal regulators and watchdog organizations have recommended that nonprofits voluntarily disclose their financial information on their own public websites. Despite the potential benefits of enhanced public confidence and trust, improved donor decision making, and increased donations, many nonprofit organizations have not adopted the recommended disclosure practices. We investigate the disclosure practices of 3,217 nonprofits and find that voluntary web disclosure of the IRS Form 990 is strongly correlated to donations, independent of other variables such as age, size, and fundraising expenditures. Further, fundraising is also clearly related to the performance indicators shown in the 990 disclosures, particularly the program ratio of program expenditures to total expenditures. This is true on a general level and when specifically compared to other nonprofits within particular sectors. As a result, nonprofits should seriously consider voluntarily posting their Form 990 results on their websites when it reflects favorably and strive to improve their financial performance if online disclosure would reflect poorly on the organization.     

Personality and Saving Behavior Among Older Adults

This study investigates how psychological characteristics influence saving behavior within a sample of 1,380 U.S. preretirees aged 50–70 from the Health and Retirement Study (HRS). Using the 3M Model of Motivation and Personality as a theoretical basis, structural equation model results revealed that financial self‐efficacy (FSE) directly explains saving behavior and is central to understanding the link between other psychological characteristics and the saving behavior of older adults. Through higher FSE, increased positive affect and reduced negative affect indirectly supported saving behavior. Moreover, the results revealed personality traits indirectly explained saving behavior. Conscientiousness and extroversion indirectly supported saving behavior; whereas openness to experience and neuroticism indirectly undermined saving behavior. This study connects broad personality traits with saving behavior, which provides information about how older adults' psychological composition is related to their saving practices.     

Corporate rebranding: effects of corporate visual identity changes on employees and consumers

Many organizations invest periodically in a new corporate visual identity (CVI). This study investigates the main effects of CVI changes in four organizations, taking into account three independent variables: stakeholder type (employees vs. consumers), the specific organization, and communication about the CVI change. The results show that CVI changes had positive effects on CVI appreciation and identity/image. However, the effects were different for employees and consumers and differed between specific organizations. Furthermore, adequate communication about the new CVI appeared to be important for people’s appreciation of the CVI. The implications of these findings are discussed.     

Images paired with concrete claims improve skeptical consumers’ responses to advertising promoting a firm’s good deeds

Previous research has focused attention on state skepticism over corporate social responsibility (CSR) communications, but little work has focused on how to override preexisting differences in consumer skepticism. To gain insight into this issue, the present studies explore whether company ads promoting a firm’s good deeds generate more positive responses when the ads contain concrete claims and/or images related to the firm’s corporate social responsibility claims, and how these elements of the CSR communication interact with individual differences in advertising skepticism. Results show that highly skeptical consumers (a) respond less favorably to ads than less skeptical consumers, overall; (b) respond more favorably to ads that contain a combination of concrete claims and images supporting those claims; and (c) respond as favorably as less skeptical consumers when ads feature concrete claims with supporting images. Additional results suggest that images are effective among highly skeptical consumers because skeptical consumers have a reduced ability to visualize advertising claims. Implications and future research directions are discussed.     

Lobbying as a potent political marketing tool for firm performance: A closer look

This study endeavors to enhance political marketing literature about the impact of lobbying on firm performance. Our sample is composed of 140 U.S. firms and spans the years 2007–2014 to encompass the 2007–2009 recession and the subsequent recovery period. Our findings indicate that lobbying expenses positively contribute to firm performance. Also, government contracts in both ways, dollar amount and number of government contracts, act as mediators between lobbying expenses and firm performance. In addition, organizational slack moderates the relationship between lobbying expenses and government contracts. The managerial implications suggest that lobbying expenses can be leveraged as a potent tool for firm performance. Firms with larger lobbying efforts acquired both, higher dollar amounts and a greater number of government contracts.     

Common Thread: The Impact of Mission on Ethical Business Culture. A Case Study

What is the impact of mission on ethical business culture? This question was analyzed through a qualitative case study of a large nonprofit organization in the human services industry with a solid history of ethical business practices and consistent use of a values-based decision-making model. This research explored ethical decision making, ethical business culture, and congruence between enacted and espoused institutional values. Institutional values were identified, and the following pair of research questions was examined: To what extent were incongruent values found between espoused and enacted values? To what extent did incongruent values impact the ethical business culture? Incongruent enacted values were present in the culture, but negative impact was diminished by a larger number of congruent enacted values. Additional findings revealed that an intense commitment to the mission by all employees was the common thread that wound throughout the organization’s ethical business culture and essentially abrogated the undesirable effects of incongruent and negative values.     

An Integrative Model of the Influence of Parental and Peer Support on Consumer Ethical Beliefs: The Mediating Role of Self-Esteem,Power, and Materialism

What causes adolescents to develop consumer’ ethical beliefs? Prior research has largely focused on the negative influence of peers and negative patterns of parent–child interactions to explain risky and unethical consumer behaviors. We take a different perspective by focusing on the positive support of parents and peers in adolescent social development. An integrative model is developed that links parental and peer support with adolescents’ self-worth motives, their materialistic tendencies, and their consumer ethical beliefs. In a study of 984 adolescents, we demonstrate support for a sequential mediation model in which peer and parental support is positively related to adolescents’ self-esteem and feelings of power, which are each associated with decreased materialism as a means of compensating for low self-worth. This reduced materialism is, in turn, associated with more ethical consumer beliefs.     

The U.S.–Brazil relationship opportunity: Business synergies for a dynamic global environment

The U.S.–Brazil relationship features an intersection of public and private sectors characteristic of the post‐2000 dynamics of international business and governmental relations. As a triple helix reference for the private sector, the public sector, and academia, this article explores how further alignment of public and private interests of the United States and Brazil can improve the bilateral relationship between the two largest countries in the Western hemisphere. The first section recaps the U.S.–Brazil public relationship and cultural perspectives shared between Brazil and the United States. The second section reviews the relevance of the U.S.–Brazil relationship in Brazil's economy and business marketplace. Sections 3 through 5 discuss specific trade, investment, and tax agreements that can be mutually beneficial for the United States and Brazil. The final section recommends further areas for public–private cooperation between the United States and Brazil.