Attitudes and donation behavior toward positive and negative charity appeals
(2018) In Journal of Nonprofit & Public Sector Marketing 30(4). p.444-474- Abstract
- This article tries to clarify whether negative charity appeals (i.e., advertisements emphasizing the bad consequences of not helping) or positive charity appeals (i.e., advertisements emphasizing the good consequences of helping) are more effective. Previous literature does not provide a single answer to this question and we suggest that one contributing reason for this is that different studies have operationalized appeal effectiveness in different ways (e.g., actual behavior, self-rated helping intentions, or expressed attitudes about the ad or the organization). Results from four separate studies suggest that positive appeals are more effective in inducing favorable attitudes toward the ad and toward the organization but that negative... (More)
- This article tries to clarify whether negative charity appeals (i.e., advertisements emphasizing the bad consequences of not helping) or positive charity appeals (i.e., advertisements emphasizing the good consequences of helping) are more effective. Previous literature does not provide a single answer to this question and we suggest that one contributing reason for this is that different studies have operationalized appeal effectiveness in different ways (e.g., actual behavior, self-rated helping intentions, or expressed attitudes about the ad or the organization). Results from four separate studies suggest that positive appeals are more effective in inducing favorable attitudes toward the ad and toward the organization but that negative appeals are more effective (in studies 1A and 1B) or at least equally effective (in studies 1C and 1D) in eliciting actual donations. Also, although people’s attitude toward the appeal (i.e., liking) was a good predictor for the expected effectiveness in increasing donation behavior (in Study 2), it was a poor predictor of actual donation behavior in all four main studies. These results cast doubt on marketing theories suggesting that attitudes toward an advertisement and toward the brand always lead to higher purchase behavior. (Less)
Please use this url to cite or link to this publication:
https://lup.lub.lu.se/record/2c5f47a8-a5a2-4384-ac85-53f6b55226b5
- author
- ERLANDSSON, ARVID LU ; Nilsson, Artur LU and Västfjäll, Daniel
- organization
- publishing date
- 2018-10-02
- type
- Contribution to journal
- publication status
- published
- subject
- in
- Journal of Nonprofit & Public Sector Marketing
- volume
- 30
- issue
- 4
- pages
- 444 - 474
- publisher
- Taylor & Francis
- external identifiers
-
- scopus:85044780884
- ISSN
- 1540-6997
- DOI
- 10.1080/10495142.2018.1452828
- language
- English
- LU publication?
- yes
- id
- 2c5f47a8-a5a2-4384-ac85-53f6b55226b5
- date added to LUP
- 2018-03-27 16:10:05
- date last changed
- 2022-04-25 06:21:35
@article{2c5f47a8-a5a2-4384-ac85-53f6b55226b5,
abstract = {{This article tries to clarify whether negative charity appeals (i.e., advertisements emphasizing the bad consequences of not helping) or positive charity appeals (i.e., advertisements emphasizing the good consequences of helping) are more effective. Previous literature does not provide a single answer to this question and we suggest that one contributing reason for this is that different studies have operationalized appeal effectiveness in different ways (e.g., actual behavior, self-rated helping intentions, or expressed attitudes about the ad or the organization). Results from four separate studies suggest that positive appeals are more effective in inducing favorable attitudes toward the ad and toward the organization but that negative appeals are more effective (in studies 1A and 1B) or at least equally effective (in studies 1C and 1D) in eliciting actual donations. Also, although people’s attitude toward the appeal (i.e., liking) was a good predictor for the expected effectiveness in increasing donation behavior (in Study 2), it was a poor predictor of actual donation behavior in all four main studies. These results cast doubt on marketing theories suggesting that attitudes toward an advertisement and toward the brand always lead to higher purchase behavior.}},
author = {{ERLANDSSON, ARVID and Nilsson, Artur and Västfjäll, Daniel}},
issn = {{1540-6997}},
language = {{eng}},
month = {{10}},
number = {{4}},
pages = {{444--474}},
publisher = {{Taylor & Francis}},
series = {{Journal of Nonprofit & Public Sector Marketing}},
title = {{Attitudes and donation behavior toward positive and negative charity appeals}},
url = {{http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/10495142.2018.1452828}},
doi = {{10.1080/10495142.2018.1452828}},
volume = {{30}},
year = {{2018}},
}