An exploration of the emotional network in donation activity in local crisis scenarios
- Publication Type:
- Thesis
- Issue Date:
- 2025
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This thesis investigates the interdependent relationship between emotional transmission and donation networks in localised natural disaster contexts. As the frequency and severity of disasters increase globally, including bushfires and floods in Australia, donations have become pivotal to short-term relief and early recovery. While existing research predominantly conceptualises donations as financially or motivationally driven transactions, this study reframes donation activity as an emotionally embedded network phenomenon. It argues that emotions—such as empathy, compassion, gratitude, frustration, anger, and suspicion—do not merely motivate giving but circulate through a broader relational system linking donors, intermediaries, and recipients. These emotional flows both shape and are shaped by the performance of the donation network, influencing the effectiveness, resilience, and social outcomes of crisis recovery.
Drawing on Ecological Threat Register 2020 and global disaster data, the study situates donation within an increasingly volatile crisis environment. It highlights the growing recognition that emotional trauma often exceeds material damage, reinforcing the need to understand how emotional dynamics operate alongside financial flows. Where proximity between donors and recipients is disrupted, intermediaries—such as charities and fundraising platforms—act as brokers of both funds and emotional expression, exercising discretion that can amplify emotional transmission across the network.
The research addresses five key gaps in the literature: limited coverage of all actors within the donation environment; insufficient exploration of inter-actor relationships; narrow focus on donor-centric motivational emotions; inadequate attention to the full range of emotional expressions; and weak integration of emotional dynamics with structural network analysis. Grounded in Network Theory and informed by Emotion Theory and Donation-Related Theories, the study conceptualises the donation system as a multi-actor, supply-like network comprising tangible (funds) and intangible (emotions) commodities.
Adopting a constructivist ontology, the research employs a qualitative mixed-methods design. Fourteen semi-structured interviews and 124 survey responses were analysed using thematic coding and social network analysis to map relational structures and emotional patterns. Findings reveal the emergence of a multiplex emotional layer within the donation network, where primary emotions driving giving are moderated by secondary emotions generated by network performance. These dynamics directly influence trust, reciprocity, and the continuity of donations.
The thesis contributes a theoretical model of the donation emotion network, extending network and supply perspectives into non-physical domains. Practically, it offers insights for policymakers and organisations seeking more resilient, emotionally attuned models of crisis support delivery.
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