title: The watching-eyes phenomenon and blood donation: Does exposure to pictures of eyes increase blood donation by young adults?
abstract: This study examined the effectiveness of exposure to a "watching-eyes image" in increasing blood donation rates among young people, a segment of the population that is particularly underrepresented among blood donors. Participants were 454 first-year university students, each of who was given a blood-donation flyer at the beginning of a lecture. Participants were randomly assigned to one of two conditions depending on whether the flyer they received bore a picture of eyes (experimental condition) or a neutral picture (control condition). We recorded the numbers of participants who promised to give blood and who actually gave blood during the blood drive. Results show that the number of people who gave blood was significantly higher in the experimental condition than in the control condition. These findings provide the first evidence of the effectiveness of the watching-eyes strategy in encouraging young people to give blood. We discuss the processes underlying the "watching-eyes effect" with respect to blood donation.
authors.affiliation: University of Caen Normandy, CERReV, EA 3918 Normandy, France. Electronic address: cecile.senemeaud@unicaen.fr.
authors.forename: Cécile
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Sénémeaud
authors.affiliation: University of Rennes 2, CRPCC-LAUREPS, EA 1285 Rennes, France.
authors.forename: Camille
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Sanrey
authors.affiliation: Établissement Français du Sang Normandie, Normandy, France.
authors.forename: Nathalie
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Callé
authors.affiliation: Établissement Français du Sang Normandie, Normandy, France.
authors.forename: Candice
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Plainfossé
authors.affiliation: University of Caen Normandy, IAE of Caen - NIMEC, EA 969 Normandy, France.
authors.forename: Alexandra
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Belhaire
authors.affiliation: University of Caen Normandy, IAE of Caen - NIMEC, EA 969 Normandy, France.
authors.forename: Patrice
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Georget
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D001782:Blood Donors / Q000523:psychology*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male
keywords: Blood donation; Eyes image; Prosocial behavior; Reputation; Young blood donors