Do occupations matter in motivations to volunteer?

Müge Özman (1, 2) , Cédric Gossart (1, 3) , Nicolas Jullien (4, 5, 6)

1 LITEM - Laboratoire en Innovation, Technologies, Economie et Management (EA 7363)
2 IMT-BS - MMS - Département Management, Marketing et Stratégie
3 IMT-BS - DEFI - Département Droit, Economie et Finances
4 IMT Atlantique - LUSSI - Département Logique des Usages, Sciences sociales et Sciences de l'Information
5 MARSOUIN - Môle Armoricain de Recherche sur la SOciété de l'information et des usages d'INternet
6 LEGO - Laboratoire d'Economie et de Gestion de l'Ouest

People are largely heterogeneous when it comes to their motivations to volunteer. Previous research explained this heterogeneity by individual predispositions and contextual factors. In this paper, we investigate the extent to which peoples’ occupations can explain differences in their volunteering motivations. Our empirical analysis relies upon 7,725 open texts written by volunteers living in France about why they wish to volunteer. Our results reveal that providing resources and skills is a significant motivation to volunteer, all occupations combined. However, altruistic and social motives differ between occupations. After eliciting these results for each occupation, we discuss their implications for NPO’s volunteer management.

Mots clés: Volunteering; Motivations; Occupations; Digital platforms; VFI

Domaines: Gestion et management

Müge Özman, Cédric Gossart, Nicolas Jullien. Do occupations matter in motivations to volunteer?. International review on public and nonprofit marketing, 2023, ⟨10.1007/s12208-023-00394-2⟩. ⟨hal-04353216⟩