The Gift of Life: The Role of Social Marketing in Organ Donation

The success of organ transplantation has led to the primary problem facing transplantation today: lack of sufficient organ donors. In the US, the number of individuals awaiting organ transplantation has been growing by 15% per year but the number of donors has only increased by approximately 5%. Donation can be from two sources - living donors and deceased donors. However, the success of transplantation relies on the willingness of the public to donate their organs or those of recently deceased relatives. UK research shows that 70% of the population are willing to donate but only 27 - 32% carry an organ donor card. This study seeks to ascertain what social marketing, with its aim of promoting pro-social behaviour can do to increase the number of living and deceased donors. Also investigated will be the potential for financially rewarding people for gifting an organ.Social Marketing; Organ donation; Altruism; Incentivisation; Behavioural Change