© 2024 Milwaukee Public Media is a service of UW-Milwaukee's College of Letters & Science
Play Live Radio
Next Up:
0:00
0:00
0:00 0:00
Available On Air Stations

Dogs or cats? Consumers express themselves through purchases, donations and tips

Katherine Du, an assistant professor of marketing at UWM, puts money in a tip jar on a coffee shop counter.
Troye Fox
/
UWM Photo Services
Katherine Du, an assistant professor of marketing at UWM, puts money in a tip jar on a coffee shop counter.

Are you a dog person or a cat lover? Like to vacation at the beach or the mountains? The work of two researchers shows that human beings are compelled to express who they are and what they think through what they buy. The urge is so strong that it can be leveraged to increase charitable donations and tipping, using a simple strategy called “dueling preferences.” This approach, which frames the act of giving as a choice between two options, is more effective at raising money than traditional appeals, the researchers found.

On this episode of Curious Campus, we’ll learn more about dueling preferences with Katherine Du, an assistant professor of marketing at UW-Milwaukee, and Jacqueline Rifkin, an assistant professor of marketing at the University of Missouri-Kansas City. 

The University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee produces the <i>UWM Chancellor’s Report</i> and <i>Curious Campus</i>, a show about science, discovery and culture.