1. How Warmth & Competence Drive Alumni Loyalty and Annual Giving
Date: September 27, 2013
Chris Malone, Managing Partner
Jamie Ressler, Associate Dean

2. Clues From Evolutionary Social Psychology
Our Warmth & Competence Instincts
Basic Survival Questions:
Your intentions toward me? (i.e. friend or foe, WARMTH)
Ability to carry out intentions? (strong or weak, COMPETENCE)
So if you’ll indulge me for a few slides of social psychology history, I’d like to tell you about a very powerful framework for understanding instinctive human behavior called The Warmth & Competence Model.
This model states that for survival purposes, primitive humans had to develop the ability make two kinds of judgments quickly and accurately everyday when they came upon another group or individual
First, what are their intentions toward me … and next, what is their ability to act on those intentions.
These were often life or death judgments, because humans were so dependent on one another for survival.
Specifically, these judgments became the basis for the important decisions they would need to make each day.
To be successful over time, they would need to remember faces and tribal affiliations, as well as the skills and outcomes of their prior dealings with others.
These perceptions and experiences would become organized in their memory as a series of warmth and competence profiles that they would access and update continuously.

3. Warmth & Competence Guide Loyalty & Relationships
These universal dimensions of human social perception have been shown to explain over 80% of social behavior through academic research in 37 countries.
Perceptions of Others
Low Competence
High Competence
High Warmth
Sympathy & Indifference
Admiration & Attraction
Low Warmth
Contempt & Rejection
Envy & Grudging Cooperation
Source: Universal dimensions of social cognition: warmth and competence, Susan T. Fiske, Amy J.C. Cuddy and Peter Glick, TRENDS in Cognitive Sciences Vol.11 No.2, 2007

4. Warmth & Competence Drive Brand Relationships
Ten studies with over 5,000 consumers on over 45 brands confirm heavy influence on brand loyalty & purchase intent.
A detailed review and several commentaries were published in the Journal of Consumer Psychology in April 2012.
When we looked at how each brand is perceived by consumers on warmth and competence dimensions, some interesting things emerged.
This chart plots each brand on the four quadrant perception map that we discussed before.

5. What About Higher Education Brands?

6. Are They Perceived Like People & Social Groups?
These fundamental dimensions of human perception were used to assess and analyze alumni relationships with a medium-sized higher education brand.
Warmth Dimensions
Competence Dimensions
Is honest and trustworthy
Acts with your best interests in mind
Listens well & is responsive to your needs
Resolves differences fairly & respectfully
Communicates clearly and effectively
Reflects well on your reputation
Has valuable knowledge and expertise
Consistently delivers on commitments
Offers high quality advice & assistance
Helps you accomplish your goals
Is best in their field of expertise
Is worthy of your time and resources
White paper:

7. Warmth & Competence Drive Overall Loyalty
These warmth and competence perceptions were highly predictive of overall loyalty, explaining over half of alumni relationship strength.
In addition, “worthy of your donations” was among the strongest predictors of overall University relationship strength and loyalty.

8. Loyalty Segmentation of University Alumni
Our cluster analysis loyalty segmentation allowed us to identify five groups of alumni, each with distinct attitudes and behaviors toward this university.
Angry Isolated Critics 13%
Satisfied Super Supporter 29%
Underserved & Alienated Boomers 15%
Proud But Disconnected Donors 19%
Financially Frustrated Fans 25%

9. Warmth & Competence Perceptions Vary by Segment
These basic dimensions of social perception provide a brand relationship diagnosis for each loyalty segment of university alumni.
Given your recent experience as an alumnus/a, please indicate the degree to which the following statements describe this university now, on a 1 to 7 scale. (Mean Score)
All Alumni
SSS
FFF
PBDD
UAB
AIC
reflects well on your reputation
5.3
6.1
5.6
4.0
4.5
is honest and trustworthy
6.0
5.2
4.2
communicates clearly and effectively
4.9
4.8
3.8
has valuable knowledge and resources
4.7
5.5
5.0
3.7
3.9
is worthy of your charitable donations
4.6
5.7
4.4
5.1
3.4
3.6
is the best in their field of expertise
3.5
consistently and reliably delivers on commitments
3.3
resolves differences fairly and respectfully
4.3
3.2
always acts with your best interests in mind
3.0
listens well and is responsive to your needs
4.1
offers high quality advice and assistance
helps you accomplish your goals
2.6
sss
fff
pbdd
uab
aic

10. Alumni Loyalty Varies Greatly by Attitudinal Segment
Not surprisingly, these perceptions are highly predictive of overall alumni loyalty.
Please indicate how strong and loyal a relationship you currently feel toward each the following on a scale from one to seven: (Mean Scores)
All Alumni
SSS
FFF
PBDD
UAB
AIC
The University overall
5.2
6.4
5.3
5.6
3.4
3.7
Classmates from your graduating class
4.6
5.8
5.5
3.8
3.0
2.9
Athletic teams
4.5
5.4
4.7
2.8
Roman Catholic Church
4.1
4.2
4.3
3.2
Classmates from your major
2.5
Classmates from other social groups
3.5
2.2
Faculty members
3.3
2.3
Current students
3.1
1.9
2.1
Alumni Outreach & Development staff
2.7
1.8
Alumni you've met through University events
sss
fff
pbdd
uab
aic

11. Loyalty Also Drives Annual Alumni Giving
Clearly alumni must have both the means and desire to provide financial support, but relationships and loyalty outweigh wealth in actual giving behavior.
ALL (100%)
$511
$269
SSS (29%)
6.4
5.2
FFF (25%)
UAB (15%)
$112
$118
5.3
3.4
5.6
3.7
PBDD (19%)
AIC (13%)
$333
$118

12. Twenty Years of Total Alumni Giving Explained
While a variety of financial and life stage variables impact total alumni giving, it’s clear that alumni attitudes, relationships and perceptions play a major role.
Nearly half of total giving behavior (49%) can be explained by just these attitudinal variables alone.

13. Structural Equation Model for Average Annual Gift
At this university, improving perceived warmth and competence among alumni will have a 27-41% pass-through impact on overall loyalty to the institution.
Similarly, for every 1 point increase in overall loyalty, average annual gift size increases by $ for every alum at this institution.
Alumni Competence Perceptions
4.4
27% Impact
23% Increase, +$61.27
Loyalty to University
Annual Gift Average
5.2
Alumni Warmth Perceptions
4.7
41% Impact
P-values on all relationships < .001
RW = Regression Weight: for each 1-point change in upstream variable, observe .xx change in downstream variable
Perceptions and loyalty were rated on a 7 point scale

14. Research Implications & Value
Warmth and competence, well-established concepts in social psychology, are also relevant in consumer brand relationships
Improving perceptions of warmth and competence will improve alumni loyalty
Stronger alumni loyalty increases the size of alumni contributions

15. Research Implications & Value
Warmth features that universities should ensure/improve:
is honest and trustworthy
acts with alumni interests in mind
resolves differences with alumni in a fair manner
listens and responds
communicates with alumni
provides status to the alumni’s personal reputation
Competence features that universities should ensure/improve:
deliver on commitments
provide valuable knowledge and resources
is worthy of contributions
offers quality advice
enables alumni to reach their personal goals
have competent experts in the fields of study.

16. More Research, Case Studies and Findings…
"The HUMAN Brand is a brilliant synthesis of psychological science and marketing wisdom. Engaging, insightful, and deeply original, an essential book for every business reader." - Dan Gilbert, Edgar Pierce Professor of Psychology at Harvard University
“Susan Fiske’s renowned work on warmth and competence explains how we unconsciously judge people and companies.  The HUMAN Brand is a must- read for anyone with an interest why we make the choices we do.”  - Jennifer Aaker, General Atlantic Professor of Marketing at Stanford University GSB
“The HUMAN Brand is a must read for those who want a truly evolved understanding of how to earn loyalty and create lasting relationships with customers. It's a timely look at how modern corporations hold onto customers... and how we drive them away.” - Beth Comstock, Chief Marketing Officer, General Electric
So if you’ll indulge me for a few slides of social psychology history, I’d like to tell you about a very powerful framework for understanding instinctive human behavior called The Warmth & Competence Model.
This model states that for survival purposes, primitive humans had to develop the ability make two kinds of judgments quickly and accurately everyday when they came upon another group or individual
First, what are their intentions toward me … and next, what is their ability to act on those intentions.
These were often life or death judgments, because humans were so dependent on one another for survival.
Specifically, these judgments became the basis for the important decisions they would need to make each day.
To be successful over time, they would need to remember faces and tribal affiliations, as well as the skills and outcomes of their prior dealings with others.
These perceptions and experiences would become organized in their memory as a series of warmth and competence profiles that they would access and update continuously.
1st chapter free at TheHUMANBrand.com
eBook available online now
Hardcover: October 14, 2013