The Giving Tuesday movement was started in the year 2012. The idea behind it was simple: to encourage people to give more, give generously, and do good. The charitable organisations say that the Tuesday after Thanksgiving is the best time to receive donations. After spending on Thanksgiving weekend and Monday, already having been claimed in the form of Cyber Monday, Tuesday is the day the consumers will be in the most need of redemption.
The phenomenon behind this is called “moral balancing”. Alexander DePaoli, associate teaching professor of marketing at Northeastern University describes moral balancing as “more likely to jump at any opportunity to demonstrate—both to the world and to themselves—how good they are after they have done something indulgent.”
“This phenomenon also works in reverse” as people who tend to spend more also tend to indulge more in donations.
Between Black Friday and Cyber Monday is an American shopping holiday called ‘Small Business Saturday’. First observed in 2010, this Saturday is celebrated on the last Saturday of November. This weekend is to encourage people to shop locally and “gives consumers the chance to support their local businesses, which many Americans see as a moral thing to do,” says DePaoli. Small Business Saturday also aims to have the same psychological effect on people like that of Giving Tuesday.
The Sunday after Thanksgiving is a consumer holiday but can still be converted into an opportunity to engage with the moral duty of the consumers. “I’d argue that if a company wanted to keep interested high all through the weekend, it would be an ideal time to have a ‘Sustainable Sunday,’ when all of the environmentally friendly and ethically sourced products go on sale,” says DePaoli.
Disha Mazumder
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