Effects of Motivation on Charitable Giving Practices: The Case of Korean American Immigrants

This study empirically evaluates the effects of motivation for philanthropic giving on distinct charitable practices of immigrants, namely ethnic donation versus mainstream donation. The study pays special attention to three major types of motives: rational motives, normative motives, and civic duty. Based on the Korean-American Philanthropic Survey, the study constructs a bivariate probit regression model to assess the relationship between motivation and charitable practices. South Korean immigrants’ ethnic donation and their mainstream donation were explained by different types of motives: Normative motives represented the primary explanatory factor for ethnic donation, and civic duty motives represented the key factor for mainstream donation. However, rational motives were related to neither form of donation. There was a negative relationship between mainstream donation and ethnic donation.