Predicting intentions to donate blood among nondonors in Australia: an extended theory of planned behavior

Abstract

BACKGROUND: With an increasing demand for blood and blood products in Australia, there is a continual need to recruit blood donors. As such, it is important to investigate the factors that impact on non donors’ decision-making processes with regard to donating blood for the first time. Previous research has established the efficacy of the Theory of Planned Behavior (TPB) in predicting blood donor intentions. The current research aimed to test a TPB model augmented with constructs implicated in previous blood donor research; specifically descriptive norm, moral norm, anticipated regret and donation anxiety.\ud STUDY DESIGN AND METHODS: Participants completed measures assessing the standard TPB variables of attitude, subjective norm, and perceived behavioral control as well as descriptive norm, moral norm, donation anxiety and anticipated regret. Path analysis examined the utility of the augmented TPB model to predict 195 non-blood donors’ intentions to donate blood.\ud RESULTS: A final revised model provided a very good fit to the data and included attitude, perceived behavioral control, moral norm, descriptive norm, anticipated regret and donation anxiety as direct predictors of intention, with these factors accounting for 70% of the variance in intentions to donate blood. \ud CONCLUSION: A revised TPB model provided a more efficacious predictor of non-donors’ intentions to donate than the standard TPB model and highlights the role that norm-based factors and affective-laden constructs play in predicting non-blood donors’ intentions to donate