Why don’t corporations just make a donation instead of making you buy something?
It happens all year round, but you see it a lot come Christmas. A number of companies will claim to make a donation to charity if you buy their product. I’m sure you’ve heard the pitches before. “Buy our phone and will donate part pf the proceeds to such and such charity.” I always wondered why don’t the companies just make a large donation to the charity and say “Hey, we’ve donated a big chunk of change to ‘Charity X’. Why not buy our product since we’re such good guys?” Personally, I would rather buy from a company like that then one that makes you jump through hoops for charities to get the money.
Of course the answer is marketing. The companies are more worried about profit than charity, but if they appear charitable it could make them more appealing to certain sections of the population. According to an article from TIME Magazine, the appeal to our generosity could make some of us buy a product that we wouldn’t necessarily even be in the market for. The same article from TIME also has tips on how to avoid less than reputable charity practices from certain companies if you are in the market for this type of purchase.
Personally, I’m of the mindset where if you’re going to give to charity, just give to charity and do so without buying something you may not want or need as it looks like you’re justifying your own consumerism by claiming philanthropy.
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