The Impact of Moral Emotions and Self-Construal on Generating Help for Children in Need

• In Event: The Study of Persuasion in Mass Communication

Abstract

Many charity organizations face ongoing challenges to promote monetary donations and other helping behaviors. It is important to unravel what drives the effectiveness of fundraising messages, and to understand people’s decision-making process of engaging in altruistic behaviors. Integrating the literature on the role of emotion in persuasive communication and intercultural communication, two studies were conducted to explore the impact of moral emotions and self-construal in charity advertising. A survey investigated the extent to which moral emotions operated differently among individuals with varying self-construal in affecting the intent to donate. An experiment examined the impact of ego- versus other-focused emotional appeals in the processing of charity advertising. Results indicated that moral emotions significantly influenced participants’ purchase intention towards social-cause products. In addition, self-construal moderated the influence of moral emotions on purchase intention, as well as the influence of emotional appeal on the intent to donate. These two studies expanded the knowledge on the effects of emotions on communication and persuasion, and provided relevant implications for practitioners in creating effective messages to promote social causes.

Author

• Jie Xu, Villanova U