The Joint Influence of Regulatory Focus and Physical Temperature on Charitable Giving
(A2026-131934)

AUTHORS

HUIDI LU, Said Business School, University of Oxford; Suhas Vijayakumar, University College Dublin; Tong Li, University of Hamburg; Wooyun Yang, University College Dublin; Rong Ding, NEOMA Business School

ABSTRACT

This study investigates how temperature, as a contextual factor, influences charitable donations and under what conditions this effect emerges. Drawing on mass transactions data from an online donation platform (N = 4,271,205) and controlled experiments (N = 1,100; as well as an additional cross-country replication with N = 892), we find that physical temperature influences donations depending on the regulatory focus of the donation projects. Specifically, people donate significantly more to prevention-focused projects in lower temperatures. This effect arises because lower temperatures activate a prevention focus among individuals, creating a sense of regulatory fit with prevention-focused projects. These findings advance understanding of how environmental cues shape prosocial behaviour and highlight the importance of contextual and motivational alignment in charitable giving.