Who Gives to Food Banks? A Study of Influences Affecting Donations to Food Banks by Individuals

ABSTRACT

Food banks have become an essential part of the social welfare arrangements of many countries. Food bank managers need to know why some people give to food banks while others do not, as such knowledge will help them devise effective promotional campaigns. The current research applied Norm Activation Theory to examine the motivations and other factors that encourage individuals (as opposed to businesses) to donate foodstuff to food banks in the United Kingdom. Two major research questions were addressed: (1) how do food bank donors and non-donors perceive the attributes of food bank beneficiaries, and (2) what considerations determine the frequencies of donations? The study employed a structural topic model (STM) to analyze the responses of 544 members of the public to an open-ended question regarding the characteristics of typical food bank beneficiaries. Outcomes were then imported to a structural equation model (SEM) containing “frequency of food bank donation” as the dependent variable.

KEYWORDS:

• Food banks
• norm activation theory
• structural topic model
• donation behavior

End note

1. Food insecurity has been defined as “the state of being without reliable access to a sufficient quantity of affordable nutritious food” (Loopstra et al., 2015, p. 3). It is normally measured in categories relating to hunger experienced in the previous 30 days. Categories range from the most severe (category 4), whereby children in a household are experiencing hunger and adults are repeatedly reducing food intake; through category 3 (adults experience hunger but no reduced food intake for children); to lower categories that involve moderate hunger (see Tarasuk & Beaton, 1999). Food insecurity has been estimated to affect between two and eight per cent of the UK population (Loopstra et al., 2015).

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Correction Statement

This article has been republished with minor changes. These changes do not impact the academic content of the article.