Prior campus experience and alumni donation: a cross-cultural study of China and the USA

Liang, Xianping1; Su, You2; Shang, Weiwei3

2022-10-01

10.1007/s10734-022-00948-z

HIGHER EDUCATION   Impact Factor & Quartile

0018-1560

1573-174X

Few studies have been conducted to investigate the role that alumni's prior campus experience may play in future donation behavior. The theory of planned behavior (TPB) and the affect theory of social exchange were applied to examine the underlying relationship between campus experience and donation behavior by incorporating relevant factors including student engagement, sense of belonging, educational satisfaction, alumni participation, and obligation to give. Structural equation modeling (SEM) was employed to portray these relationships, and multigroup analyses were performed to compare the findings from two samples of US (n = 535) and Chinese (n = 510) alumni. The results suggested that student engagement is an antecedent of sense of belonging, which in turn leads to alumni's obligation to give. Furthermore, educational satisfaction and alumni participation mediate the relationship between sense of belonging and obligation to give. In contrast, the effect of sense of obligation to give on donation behavior is significant only for US alumni, and the strengths of the relationships among the constructs differ between the two samples. Cultural factors that may explain these differences are discussed. Appropriate measures for increasing alumni donation by optimizing students' campus experiences in conformance with the cultural characteristics of the society are suggested.

Student engagement Sense of belonging Alumni donation Satisfaction Obligation to give Cross-cultural comparison

SSCI

English

First

Humanities and Social Sciences Foundation of the Chinese Ministry of Education[19YJC880048]

Education & Educational Research

Education & Educational Research

WOS:000870964800001

SPRINGER

SOCIAL SCIENCES, GENERAL

Web of Science

1.Southern Univ Sci & Technol, Ctr Higher Educ Res, Shenzhen, Peoples R China
2.Beijing Univ Posts & Telecommun, Sch Humanities, Beijing, Peoples R China
3.East China Normal Univ, Sch Marxism, Shanghai, Peoples R China

Liang, Xianping,Su, You,Shang, Weiwei. Prior campus experience and alumni donation: a cross-cultural study of China and the USA[J]. HIGHER EDUCATION,2022.

Liang, Xianping,Su, You,&Shang, Weiwei.(2022).Prior campus experience and alumni donation: a cross-cultural study of China and the USA.HIGHER EDUCATION.

Liang, Xianping,et al."Prior campus experience and alumni donation: a cross-cultural study of China and the USA".HIGHER EDUCATION (2022).