Does the weather influence our giving?

The weather has been a hot topic lately. Not only because it's been raining in June, but also because of all the weather related natural disasters that have been occurring all over the country. The weather overall has been really depressing.

Does this depressing weather put you in a depressing mood? A recent Wall Street Journal article has found some interesting results from several studies regarding behavior and the weather.

"Researchers affiliated with the Center for Decision Sciences at Columbia Business School measured the public's changing attitudes about climate change. The team surveyed about 1,200 Americans and Australians, and the results were striking. Those who felt that the current day was warmer than usual for the time of year were more likely to believe in and worry about global warming than those who thought it was cooler outside. They were also more likely to donate the money they earned from taking the survey to a charity that did work on climate change." 

Another study "had a woman greet volunteers in the lobby of the psychology building. She carried a coffee cup, a clipboard and two textbooks. Sometimes her cup was hot, sometimes it was cold. During the elevator ride to the fourth floor, she'd casually ask the volunteer to hold her cup while she jotted down notes. Later, in the lab, the participants read a description of a hypothetical person and were then asked for their impressions. Those who had handled a cup of hot coffee rated the person as significantly warmer and more sociable compared to people who had held an iced coffee. Feeling a warm object also made volunteers more generous in a second study that involved giving a gift certificate away or keeping it for themselves."

What does this have to do with direct marketing? As both of these studies found, the weather plays a factor in giving patterns. In the first study, because people were directly feeling the affects of global warming (warm weather), they were more inclined to donate to a cause that dealt with that issue. In the second study, people were more generous after feeling a warm object. The unseasonably cold weather, especially here in the Bay Area, is having a negative impact on giving patterns.

Has the recent weather affected your mood lately? Has your organization experienced drops in donations this year? Let us know in the comments section below. I would love to hear some feedback from different organizations!

--L