Testing the Identifiable Victim Effect With Animal Victims in Antilittering Messages

• In Event: Proenvironmental Behaviour and Attitudes

Abstract

The identifiable victim effect, the phenomenon where people are more willing to help identified individuals than statistical victims (Slovic, 2007), has only been tested in experiments with humans as victims (Slovic, 2007). No study has tested whether the stimulus of animal victims could elicit the same level of reaction as human victims. The current study tests the identifiable victim effect with both human and animal stimulus messages focused on the consequences of littering. 198 undergraduate students were randomly assigned to view one of three messages, with the animal message eliciting greater distress and empathy than the human message, and the three messages not differing on behavioral intention outcomes. This study provides insight about responses to risk messages aimed at increasing a pro-social behavior. The implications of the results for risk message construction, as well as limitations and future directions for this line of research are also discussed.

Authors

• Evan K. Perrault, Michigan State U

• Kami J. Silk, Michigan State U

• Sarah Sheff, Michigan State U

• Jisoo Ahn, U of Texas - Austin

• Alice Hoffman, Michigan State U

• Jeffrey Cox, Michigan State University