SES Met Expectations Vignette Study

This is a two-phase between subjects experimental design (2 x 2 x 2). In this study, we aim to examine how volunteer recruitment advertising can set expectations about the volunteer experience, and how different 'first day in the role' volunteer experiences can interact with expectations to determine satisfaction and retention intentions. The context of the study is the "State Emergency Services" which is a volunteer-led organisation with branches all across Australia, whose remit is to provide support to the community during emergencies and disasters. Participants will be recruited from Australia via Prolific. Phase 1 comprises random assignment into one of two groups where participants examine one of two recruitment posters. These posters have been pilot tested, and are designed to set the following expectations about what the volunteering experience with the SES will be like: 'Working in a Team' vs. 'Learning New Skills'. Participants will view one of these posters and be asked to report on what they expect from the volunteering experience, and how attractive that experience seems. Phase 2 comprises random assignment into one of four groups, formed by 2x2-group variables (Experiencing Teamwork vs. not & Experiences Learning New Skills vs not). In this phase, participants are asked to imagine they decided to volunteer and are then 'walked through' a hypothetical first day volunteer experience. The experience they receive will either describe high or low levels of teamwork crossed with either high or low exposure to opportunities to learn new skills. Participants will then be asked to give ratings of their experiences in relation to teamwork, and learning new skills (these are manipulation checks). Then they will be asked to report on the dependent variables. Mediators / manipulation checks include (in Phase 1) - Expectations set (in Phase 2) - Experiences reported The dependent variables are four items: 1 Satisfaction with experience 2 Intention to return for future experience 3 (exploratory) a 5-point 'smiley-face' 4 (exploratory) request for more information about the SES