When Reputation Influences Trust in Nonprofit Organizations. The Role of Value Attachment as Moderator

The research assesses the role of reputation to influence trusting beliefs in nonprofit organizations and to generate supportive behavior, i.e., donating, volunteering and defending against criticism, depending on people’s value attachment with the organization. To test the theoretical model, a telephone survey was conducted among a representative sample of the Swiss public (N = 583) regarding eight fundraising charitable organizations. Results show that reputation, conceptualized as a multidimensional construct comprising the cognitive assessment of an organization’s utility, management and public perception, engendered trusting beliefs, which are the antecedents of supportive behavioral intentions. This relationship between reputation and trusting beliefs was moderated by a person’s value attachment with an organization: when value attachment was low there was a stronger impact of reputation on trust in the organization than when value attachment was high. The study sheds light on the moderating role of value attachment for the relationship between reputation and trust and extends the body of research on what drives people’s support for nonprofit organizations.