In a fascinating new study by Michael Price, assistant professor of economics at the University of Tennessee, Knoxville, hair color was seen to have an impact on fundraising. The study looked at how hair color impacts on productivity in door-to-door fundraising.
The study found that blonde women gained more from their fundraising efforts when they want to Caucasian houses. Non-Caucasian households, however, were not positively influenced by the blonde’s presence – quite the opposite. In non-Caucasian households, blondes received less donations than did brunettes.
The study used donations given door-to-door by people in Pitt County, North Carolina for the Center for Natural Hazards Mitigation Research at East Carolina University. Professor Price has 44 volunteers visit 1755 donor houses. 522 of the homes actually gave money to the cause.
The results found that households were 13% more likely to contribute when they were approached by an attractive woman and that they were 23% more likely to make a donation when a blonde approached the house, rather than a brunette of the same attractiveness level.
The results were quite difference in minority homes. Professor Price concluded, “Empirical results suggest that returns to physical appearance are, on average, greater for blonde females but depend critically on characteristics of the potential donor.”