‘Checkout charity’ requests often backfire, leaving shoppers feeling guilty: new study
- Written by Arvid O. I. Hoffmann, Professor of Marketing, University of Adelaide
“Would you like to donate $2 to charity today?”
If you have been Christmas shopping this season, you probably heard this question — and potentially felt pressured to donate money in the midst of a cost-of-living crisis.
More and more stores now ask customers to donate money at the checkout. This is a practice called “checkout charity”, in which cashiers ask for a small charity donation just as customers are paying for their own purchases.
The strategy seems to work, given the fundraising success of global retailers. For example, in Australia, clothing retailer Cotton On raised about A$20 million in 2024 alone through checkout charity campaigns at its stores.
In the United States, the pizza chain Domino’s raised more than US$126 million (A$190 million) for St Jude Children’s Research Hospital over the past two decades by inviting customers to round up their bills and donate to this charity.
At first glance, checkout charity seems like a win-win-win: charities get funding, companies look caring and customers get a chance to do good.
However, recent studies overseas suggest there could be a potential dark side to these requests, as well. This observation prompted us to dive deeper into this phenomenon and investigate whether it could backfire on retailers (and charities) in Australia.
Christmas cheer, or checkout fear?
Are customers actually feeling happy about being asked to donate at the checkout? Our newly published research suggests many do not.
Instead, they often feel pressured, guilty, anxious and pushed into making a decision they did not plan to make, or feel like the Grinch if they don’t.
But what happens when doing good starts to feel bad? After all, when checkout charity requests induce negative feelings, these need to go somewhere. They might be redirected to the retailer – or the cashier standing right in front of you.
This led us to study whether well-intentioned checkout donation campaigns can backfire, why this happens and how this process unfolds in practice.
What we studied
We conducted a survey this year of 329 consumers in which we confronted them with a checkout donation scenario. Then we asked them how they felt, what they thought, how likely they were to donate to the charity, how they viewed the retailer, and if they planned to go back to this particular store in the future.
The results of our study were clear: well-intended donation requests can and do backfire. Some of the consumer responses included:
The grocery store has a lot more money than I do. Why am I the one expected to make a donation?
I feel like they are using the social construct of societal shame to coerce people into donating.
I generally don’t donate to them because I’m not sure exactly how the stores allocate the funds.
When looking at how these feelings impact behaviour, we found that consumers who experienced negative emotions as a result of being asked to donate at the checkout were:
- less willing to donate
- less satisfied with their shopping experience, and
- more critical of the retailer.
These are outcomes retailers and charities should want the least.
Warm glow or cold scepticism?
With checkout charity requests, customers are required to make a decision quickly, often with a queue of shoppers waiting behind them, and in the presence of a cashier.
This creates both time pressure (feeling rushed) and social pressure (feeling judged), two factors that can make customers feel bad. As a result, they are less likely to experience a positive emotion of doing a good deed — or what researchers call the “warm glow” effect.
Indeed, the discomfort of the checkout charity request makes customers more sceptical, and they start to doubt the real motives behind the request.
Comments from our surveyed consumers indicate many suspect the company may be trying to improve its public image rather than genuinely help those in need. Some (incorrectly) believe companies receive tax benefits from customer donations. Others worry that not all the money will reach the intended cause.
In short, checkout charity campaigns might backfire for retailers and charities alike.
How to make checkout charity work better this Christmas
Checkout charity does not have to fail.
Our findings suggest that stores should introduce information about the donation request early in the shopping journey using posters or flyers, so customers are not surprised at the checkout and feel less time pressure. Woolworths took this approach with its Easter appeal, flagging in advance that shoppers could donate at the checkout.
Retailers can design payment screens that allow customers to choose privately, reducing the feeling of being watched or judged, and the consequent negative feeling of social pressure. Supermarkets have started to put this into practice at self-serve checkouts.
Campaigns can also use emotionally engaging stories to show who is being helped, rather than only presenting cold, hard numbers.
Most importantly, companies should communicate clearly and transparently about how the money is collected, where it goes and what impact it makes, reducing customer scepticism and rebuilding trust.
Authors: Arvid O. I. Hoffmann, Professor of Marketing, University of Adelaide
