Before you start de-cluttering your closet, get your camera ready. It could have a financial payoff.
People are more likely to donate clothing and household goods if they take a picture of the item first, according to new research in the Journal of Marketing. The study, which tracked a donation drive advertised to 797 Penn State students in six different university residences, found that participants who were encouraged to snap pictures donated 15 to 35 percent more.
"There are lots of things we hold on to, not because of the item usefulness or monetary value, but because the items have sentimental value," said study co-author Karen Page Winterich, an associate professor of marketing at Penn State.