IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/eee/jbrese/v133y2021icp420-431.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

When sadness and hope work to motivate charitable giving

Author

Listed:
  • Homer, Pamela Miles

Abstract

Traditionally, charities that seek donations for human-suffering causes have relied heavily on emotional appeals designed to motivate negative feelings such as sadness and fear. Past research supports a sympathy-helping hypothesis that donation campaigns that use images of human-suffering to evoke sympathy and empathy increase prosocial behaviors. Empirical evidence also supports an inspiration-helping hypothesis whereby the positive emotion of strength inspires people to donate. Consistent with the proposed sympathy + inspiration-helping hypothesis, appeals that combine hope and sadness (vs. hope-dominant and sadness-dominant appeals) elicit sympathy and inspiration that motivate increased donations toward human-suffering causes. In addition, Study 2 results support that improving emotion appeals (sad to hopeful) generate higher donations than declining emotion appeals (hopeful to sad). Study 3 shows that cognitive load moderates the emotion-donation relationship. Under high load when mental resources are constrained, donations declined for the sadness + hope mixed emotion appeal.

Suggested Citation

  • Homer, Pamela Miles, 2021. "When sadness and hope work to motivate charitable giving," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 133(C), pages 420-431.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:jbrese:v:133:y:2021:i:c:p:420-431
    DOI: 10.1016/j.jbusres.2021.05.018
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0148296321003477
    Download Restriction: Full text for ScienceDirect subscribers only
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1016/j.jbusres.2021.05.018?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to search for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Williams, Patti & Aaker, Jennifer L, 2002. "Can Mixed Emotions Peacefully Coexist?," Journal of Consumer Research, Journal of Consumer Research Inc., vol. 28(4), pages 636-649, March.
    2. Perracchio, Laura A & Meyers-Levy, Joan, 1997. "Evaluating Persuasion-Enhancing Techniques from a Resource-Matching Perspective," Journal of Consumer Research, Journal of Consumer Research Inc., vol. 24(2), pages 178-191, September.
    3. Mukherjee, Ashesh & Lee, Seung Yun & Burnham, Thomas, 2020. "The effect of others’ participation on charitable behavior: Moderating role of recipient resource scarcity," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 120(C), pages 213-228.
    4. Aparna A. Labroo & Suresh Ramanathan, 2007. "The Influence of Experience and Sequence of Conflicting Emotions on Ad Attitudes," Journal of Consumer Research, Journal of Consumer Research Inc., vol. 33(4), pages 523-528, December.
    5. Aimee Drolet & Mary Frances Luce & Itamar Simonson, 2009. "When Does Choice Reveal Preference? Moderators of Heuristic versus Goal-Based Choice," Journal of Consumer Research, Journal of Consumer Research Inc., vol. 36(1), pages 137-147, June.
    6. Loraine Lau-Gesk, 2005. "Understanding Consumer Evaluations of Mixed Affective Experiences," Journal of Consumer Research, Journal of Consumer Research Inc., vol. 32(1), pages 23-28, June.
    7. Septianto, Felix & Kemper, Joya A. & Chiew, Tung Moi, 2020. "The interactive effects of emotions and numerical information in increasing consumer support to conservation efforts," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 110(C), pages 445-455.
    8. Lau-Gesk, Loraine & Mukherjee, Sayantani, 2017. "Coping with sequential conflicting emotional experiences," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 73(C), pages 1-8.
    9. Philippe Odou & Marie Schill, 2020. "How anticipated emotions shape behavioral intentions to fight climate change," Post-Print hal-02929920, HAL.
    10. Loraine Lau-Gesk & Joan Meyers-Levy, 2009. "Emotional Persuasion: When the Valence versus the Resource Demands of Emotions Influence Consumers' Attitudes," Journal of Consumer Research, Journal of Consumer Research Inc., vol. 36(4), pages 585-599, December.
    11. Chang, Chia-Chi & Chen, Po-Yu, 2019. "Which maximizes donations: Charitable giving as an incentive or incentives for charitable giving?," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 97(C), pages 65-75.
    12. Strong, Carolyn A. & Martin, Brett A.S., 2014. "Effects of perspective taking and entitlement on consumers," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 67(9), pages 1817-1823.
    13. Bettman, James R & Luce, Mary Frances & Payne, John W, 1998. "Constructive Consumer Choice Processes," Journal of Consumer Research, Journal of Consumer Research Inc., vol. 25(3), pages 187-217, December.
    14. Odou, Philippe & Schill, Marie, 2020. "How anticipated emotions shape behavioral intentions to fight climate change," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 121(C), pages 243-253.
    15. Verhaert, Griet A. & Van den Poel, Dirk, 2011. "Empathy as added value in predicting donation behavior," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 64(12), pages 1288-1295.
    16. Garbarino, Ellen C & Edell, Julie A, 1997. "Cognitive Effort, Affect, and Choice," Journal of Consumer Research, Journal of Consumer Research Inc., vol. 24(2), pages 147-158, September.
    17. Meyers-Levy, Joan & Peracchio, Laura A, 1995. "Understanding the Effects of Color: How the Correspondence between Available and Required Resources Affects Attitudes," Journal of Consumer Research, Journal of Consumer Research Inc., vol. 22(2), pages 121-138, September.
    18. Eduardo B. Andrade & Joel B. Cohen, 2007. "On the Consumption of Negative Feelings," Journal of Consumer Research, Journal of Consumer Research Inc., vol. 34(3), pages 283-300, June.
    19. Jiewen Hong & Angela Y. Lee, 2010. "Feeling Mixed but Not Torn: The Moderating Role of Construal Level in Mixed Emotions Appeals," Journal of Consumer Research, Journal of Consumer Research Inc., vol. 37(3), pages 456-472, October.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Lau-Gesk, Loraine & Mukherjee, Sayantani, 2017. "Coping with sequential conflicting emotional experiences," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 73(C), pages 1-8.
    2. Quach, Sara & Septianto, Felix & Thaichon, Park & Chiew, Tung Moi, 2021. "Mixed emotional appeal enhances positive word-of-mouth: The moderating role of narrative person," Journal of Retailing and Consumer Services, Elsevier, vol. 62(C).
    3. Septianto, Felix, 2021. "Every ending is a new beginning: Poignancy increases consumer preferences for self-made products," International Journal of Research in Marketing, Elsevier, vol. 38(3), pages 732-748.
    4. Hilke Plassmann & Peter Kenning & Michael Deppe & Harald Kugel & Wolfram Schwindt, 2005. "Neural correlates of the affect heuristic during brand choice," Experimental 0509004, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    5. Xin, Benlu & Zhu, Chengfeng & Septianto, Felix, 2022. "The effects of mixed emotional appeals in leveraging paradox brands," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 153(C), pages 266-275.
    6. Aaker, Jennifer L. & Drolet, Aimee L. & Griffin, Dale, 2008. "Recalling Mixed Emotions," Research Papers 1913, Stanford University, Graduate School of Business.
    7. Cheng, Yin-Hui & Chuang, Shih-Chieh & Pei-I Yu, Annie & Lai, Wan-Ting, 2019. "Change in your wallet, change your choice: The effect of the change-matching heuristic on choice," Journal of Retailing and Consumer Services, Elsevier, vol. 49(C), pages 67-76.
    8. Bonsall, Peter & Shires, Jeremy & Maule, John & Matthews, Bryan & Beale, Jo, 2007. "Responses to complex pricing signals: Theory, evidence and implications for road pricing," Transportation Research Part A: Policy and Practice, Elsevier, vol. 41(7), pages 672-683, August.
    9. Schniter, Eric & Sheremeta, Roman M. & Shields, Timothy W., 2015. "Conflicted emotions following trust-based interaction," Journal of Economic Psychology, Elsevier, vol. 51(C), pages 48-65.
    10. Valor, Carmen & Antonetti, Paolo & Crisafulli, Benedetta, 2022. "Emotions and consumers’ adoption of innovations: An integrative review and research agenda," Technological Forecasting and Social Change, Elsevier, vol. 179(C).
    11. repec:cup:judgdm:v:11:y:2016:i:3:p:213-222 is not listed on IDEAS
    12. Song, Yan & Zhang, Lu & Zhang, Ming, 2022. "Research on the impact of public climate policy cognition on low-carbon travel based on SOR theory—Evidence from China," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 261(PA).
    13. Donghwy An & Bo‐ram Jeong & Nara Youn, 2022. "Effects of art consumption on consumer well‐being," Journal of Consumer Affairs, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 56(2), pages 685-702, June.
    14. Chen, Bo, 2020. "The effect of attribute originality on consumers’ adoption intention of customization: The role of construal level," Journal of Retailing and Consumer Services, Elsevier, vol. 55(C).
    15. Kim, Jungkeun & Spence, Mark T. & Marshall, Roger, 2018. "The Color of Choice: The Influence of Presenting Product Information in Color on the Compromise Effect," Journal of Retailing, Elsevier, vol. 94(2), pages 167-185.
    16. Heesup Han & Chen Che & Sanghyeop Lee, 2021. "Facilitators and Reducers of Korean Travelers’ Avoidance/Hesitation Behaviors toward China in the Case of COVID-19," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 18(23), pages 1-13, November.
    17. Botti, Simona & Hsee, Christopher K., 2010. "Dazed and confused by choice: How the temporal costs of choice freedom lead to undesirable outcomes," Organizational Behavior and Human Decision Processes, Elsevier, vol. 112(2), pages 161-171, July.
    18. Anyuan Shen & Shuguang Liu, 2016. "Asymmetric dominance and the stability of constructed preferences," Judgment and Decision Making, Society for Judgment and Decision Making, vol. 11(3), pages 213-222, May.
    19. Zablocki, Agnieszka & Makri, Katerina & Houston, Michael J., 2019. "Emotions Within Online Reviews and their Influence on Product Attitudes in Austria, USA and Thailand," Journal of Interactive Marketing, Elsevier, vol. 46(C), pages 20-39.
    20. Benoit, Ilgım Dara & Miller, Elizabeth G., 2022. "Enhancing creativity perception through fear," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 139(C), pages 1084-1098.
    21. Wongkitrungrueng, Apiradee & Valenzuela, Ana & Sen, Sankar, 2018. "The Cake Looks Yummy on the Shelf up There: The Interactive Effect of Retail Shelf Position and Consumers’ Personal Sense of Power on Indulgent Choice," Journal of Retailing, Elsevier, vol. 94(3), pages 280-295.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:eee:jbrese:v:133:y:2021:i:c:p:420-431. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Catherine Liu (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.elsevier.com/locate/jbusres .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.