Blood transfusions allow medical professionals to address a wide variety of emergencies, from trauma-induced blood loss to blood replacement during surgeries. Population aging and the increase in surgical procedures such as organ transplants are further increasing the demand for blood. The question is, What will influence human behaviour more: appealing to altruistic motives to the request or providing an economic incentive? We decided to find out.
According to the guidelines of the , the objective of national blood procurement and allocation systems is “to obtain all blood supplies from voluntary non-remunerated donors.” There are several ethical and behavioural, claims that this “virtue of beneficence” derives from natural human sympathy. Behavioural scientists call this tendency ‘warm glow’ or ‘impure altruism.’ Another strong underlying source of altruistic behaviour is the desire to signal to others — or to oneself — that one is ‘a good person,’ and to improve one’s reputation in a community. Yet another source of altruism derives from reciprocal feelings, whereby a person behaves altruistically with the expectation that the recipient will reciprocate in the future, should the need arise.
