The Good Samaritan and the marketer: public perceptions of humanitarian and international development NGOs

This article reports on a nationwide study investigating public responses to humanitarian communications. Based on focus group data with members of the UK public, the paper discusses two key models through which NGOs identities and activities are understood and judged, both positively and negatively: the Good Samaritan and the Marketer. Thematic analysis of the focus groups extracts exposes the salience of these models in people’s thinking, how they speak to each other and how they inform and affect the relationship between NGOs and public. The paper discusses the themes in relation to current debates on organisations’ image and trust and confidence in nonprofit organisations and humanitarian NGOs. The data show deep public disillusionment and disappointment deriving from the recognition of the Marketer model being applied to and employed within the realm of humanitarianism. This suggests that NGOs’ moving away from traditional notions of charity might be counterproductive and in the long-term risky