BACKGROUND

The need for blood products is constant and unremitting, yet only a small percentage of eligible individuals answer the appeal to donate. Further, most new donors never return to provide a repeat donation. The ongoing need to attract and retain new donors has led to the examination of psychosocial factors that may predict the likelihood of blood donation behavior. By use of regression techniques, prior studies have established that elements of the Theory of Planned Behavior (e.g., attitude, subjective norm, personal moral norm, and perceived control or self-efficacy) can predict intention to donate among nondonors.

STUDY DESIGN AND METHODS

Path analysis was used to further examine the utility of the Theory of Planned Behavior in predicting donation intention in a sample of 227 experienced donors who completed an online survey. Experiential measures relating to previous donations, including the experience of vasovagal reactions and overall donor satisfaction, were added to the model.

RESULTS

The final model, which provided an excellent fit to the data, characterized 1) three direct pathways from attitude, subjective norm, and self-efficacy to donation intention and 2) four indirect pathways, wherein self-efficacy, personal moral norm, vasovagal reactions, and overall donor satisfaction influence donation intention through attitude. In total, 65 percent of the variance in donation intention and 50 percent of the variance in attitude is accounted for in this model.

CONCLUSION

The Theory of Planned Behavior can be used to predict donation intentions among experienced donors. Further, the model's predictive utility is improved by considering the influence of previous donation experiences on donor attitudes.