Social Status Perception And Charitable Donation Of Private Entrepreneurs

Private enterprises are an important component of China’s economy.However,due to China’s historical "agriculture over commerce" culture,private entrepreneurs have long been in a state of economic and social imbalance until the emergence of the "36 policies" for non-public enterprises in 2005,which allowed for a gradual increase in their social status.Social status is an important factor that influences the decision-making of entrepreneurs,and previous research has extensively explored the impact of specific social status on entrepreneur decision-making,but little attention has been paid to the decision-making behavior of entrepreneurs to maintain their social status.The identity theory indicates that individuals who have a higher sense of identity are more likely to engage in behaviors that maintain their social identity.Therefore,it can be inferred that Chinese entrepreneurs may have developed a series of unique behaviors to maintain their social identity after experiencing changes in social status from non-existent to low to high.Charitable behavior is likely a product of Chinese entrepreneurs’ efforts to maintain their social status.This is because social status largely stems from the evaluation of other members of society,and charity,as a selfless behavior,is undoubtedly an effective means of improving the evaluation of other members of society.However,existing research on charitable motivation mainly focuses on the utilitarian pursuit of corporate values,such as using charity to increase stock prices,gain consumer trust,and improve corporate image.There is less attention paid to the motivation of maintaining the personal social status of entrepreneurs through charity,making it difficult to effectively prove the relationship between maintaining social status and charitable behavior by entrepreneurs.In light of this theoretical gap,this article attempts to explore the relationship between private entrepreneurs’ perception of social status and charitable donations from the perspective of identity theory,as well as relevant boundary conditions.Based on the results of the ninth,tenth,and eleventh large-scale sampling surveys of private entrepreneurs conducted in 2010,2012,and 2014,combined with normative and empirical research,this article conducts a systematic analysis and in-depth examination of the above issues and reaches the following conclusions:Private entrepreneurs’ perception of their social status is an important factor in influencing charitable behavior,and the higher their perception of social status,the more likely they are to engage in charitable behavior.This relationship is also influenced by other factors covering micro-psychology,meso-networks,and macro-system levels.At the micro-psychology level,the higher the market position of the private enterprise,the weaker the motivation of entrepreneurs to maintain their social status through charitable donations.This is because a private enterprise’s higher market position itself helps entrepreneurs to gain a higher sense of social status in their circle,so their motivation to maintain their social status through charity will decrease.At the meso-network level,the higher the hospitality costs of the enterprise,the weaker the motivation of entrepreneurs to maintain their social status through charitable donations.This is because entrepreneurs can maintain their circle relationships through hospitality activities,thus achieving the goal of maintaining social identity.Such relationships can help private entrepreneurs gain social recognition and improve their perception of social status,so their motivation to maintain their social status through charity will decrease.At the macro-system level,the higher the level of marketization in the region where the enterprise is located,the weaker the motivation of entrepreneurs to maintain their social status through charitable donations.The research contributions of this paper are as follows: first,it expands the research scope of entrepreneurs’ non-market strategic motivations,deepens the research literature on how and why non-economic motivations influence entrepreneurs’ non-market strategic decisions,and finds that maintaining social status perception is an important factor in entrepreneurs’ charitable donation behavior.Secondly,it expands the research of identity theory on the maintenance of social status by individuals,and explores how individuals maintain their higher social status and how the strategies to maintain social status will be adjusted according to environmental changes.Third,it further deepens the research on charitable donation behavior of enterprises.Traditional research on charitable donation believes that entrepreneurs’ charitable donation behavior is often rational and mainly for the economic benefits of enterprises.This paper finds that in the context of China,the motivation for charitable donation of enterprises is no longer just rational behavior of entrepreneurs for economic benefits.It may also be for some irrational purpose,such as the preservation of the social status from which they come,as mentioned in this article.