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Research

Charitable giving and aid delivery represent a multi-trillion-dollar global economy. In 2022, the U.S. alone spent over $1.6 trillion on welfare programs, while charitable donations exceeded $499 billion (Giving USA, 2023). For this system to function effectively, both sides of the market must work: Givers must be motivated to help, and recipients must be willing to accept and utilize that help. For example, your local homeless shelter’s success not only requires that givers fund it, but also requires unhoused individuals to enter the shelter and use the offered services. Marketers play a critical role on both fronts. They design the campaigns that inspire generosity and shape the consumer experience of receiving aid. My research investigates how to improve the effectiveness of the aid economy by studying both givers and receivers—developing consumer behavior theory that helps high-impact charitable organizations drive both donations for and uptake of their products and services. I organize this work around the following core research streams:

1. Receivers of Aid: When and why do psychological costs prevent eligible consumers from utilizing beneficial aid, and how can marketers reduce these barriers?

For a list of my published and ongoing projects, check out the sections below. Please reach out if you are interested in working together on projects related to Receivers of Aid!

Receivers of Aid: Published Work & Papers Under Review

  1. Kassirer, S., Levine, E., & Gaertig, C. (2020). Decisional Autonomy Undermines Advisees’ Judgments of Experts in Medicine and in Life. Proceedings of the National Academy of Science, 117(21): 11368-11378. https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.1910572117
  2. Kassirer, S. & Kouchaki, M. (2023). Aid Utility Theory: An integrative approach to solving the last mile problem. Research in Organizational Behavior, 43. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.riob.2023.100196 
  3. Kassirer, S., Jami, A., & Kouchaki, M. (2024). Is In-kind Kinder Than Cash? The Impact of Money vs. Food Aid on Social Emotions and Aid Take-up.  Proceedings of the National Academy of Science, 121(38): e2310025121. 
  4. Kassirer, S. & Kouchaki, M. Giver Spotlighting Negatively Impacts Recipients of Aid. 3rd round R&R at the Journal of Marketing Research [preprint available upon request].
  5. Kassirer, S. & Kouchaki, M. Empowered or Devalued? Understanding How Consumers of Need-based Aid Perceive Receiving Help. Under review [preprint available upon request].

2. Givers of Aid: Why do consumers sometimes help less (effectively) than they could, and how can marketing strategies promote long-term and effective prosocial behavior?

For a list of my published and ongoing projects, check out the sections below. Please reach out if you are interested in working together on projects related to Givers of Aid!

Givers of Aid: Published Work & Papers Under Review

  1. O’Brien, E. & Kassirer, S. (2019). People Are Slow to Adapt to the Warm Glow of Giving. Psychological Science, 30(2): 193-204. https://doi.org/10.1177/0956797618814145
  2. Kassirer, S. Jordan, J., & Kouchaki, M. (2023). Giving-by-Proxy Triggers Subsequent Charitable Behavior. Journal of Experimental Social Psychology. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jesp.2022.104438
  3. Kassirer, S. & Touré-Tillery, M. Giving Time or Money: Which Altruism Feels More Effective? Forthcoming in Marketing Letters [preprint available upon request].
  4. Kassirer, S., Smith, I., & Kouchaki, M. Marketing for Moralization. R&R at Management Science (Marketing Track) [preprint available upon request].

3. How can we maximize the social impact of our research?

Connecting behavioral science research to policy is a focal route through which researchers can contribute to meaningful and sustainable social change. Yet, researchers often fail to make this connection. In my article published in Academy of Management Perspectives, I discuss behavioral science research’s potential to inform effective policy and social change, and provide a roadmap for how to realize that potential. My perspective is rooted in the effective altruism (EA) philosophy, which argues that people should use evidence and careful reasoning to figure out how to use their scarce resources (i.e., time and money) to do the most good. I hope that this article can help to spark discussion and meaningful change within marketing, management research, and behavioral science so that we, as individual scholars and as fields, can make a bigger and better impact.

Please reach out if you are interested in discussing Global Priorities Research!

Global Priorities Research

  1. Kassirer, S., Levine, E., & Kouchaki, M. (2023). A Call to Maximize the Social Impact of Our Research: An Effective Altruism Approach. Academy of Management Perspectives, 37(4). https://doi.org/10.5465/amp.2022.0045