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The purpose of this paper is to examine a three-way interaction between the two motivational orientations of religiosity (i.e. intrinsic and extrinsic) and recognition (in this study, an explicit expectation that behavior is recognized) on charitable behavior. Further, drawing upon the evolutionary psychology perspective, the status motive is predicted to mediate the predicted effects.

Three experimental studies were conducted using a 2 (intrinsic religiosity: low/high; measured) × 2 (extrinsic religiosity: low/high; measured) × 2 (recognition: yes/no; manipulated) between-subjects design to examine the predicted effects on likelihood to donate and donation allocations in two Asian countries, namely, Indonesia and Malaysia.

The results show that recognition increases charitable behavior among consumers with a high level of extrinsic religiosity but low level of intrinsic religiosity (Studies 1a, 1b and 2). Further, a status motive mediates the predicted effects (Study 2).

The present research provides a novel perspective on how marketers can purposively use recognition in charitable advertising to encourage charitable behavior among religious consumers – but only in Asia.

This paper presents the case for how a non-profit organization can develop charitable advertising for disaster relief in Indonesia (Studies 1a and 1b) and Malaysia (Study 2). The findings of this research could potentially be extended to other organizations in Asia or other countries where religiosity places an important role in consumer behavior.

This research shows the interactive effect between extrinsic religiosity, intrinsic religiosity and recognition can increase charitable behavior in Asia.

The aim of this paper is to investigate the interaction effect that sponsor-team congruence and team fan (home/rival team) have on the influence of different types of sports sponsorship (joint, corporate social responsibility [CSR]-linked and conventional sponsorship) on fans' attitudes and purchase intentions toward the sponsor.

Two experimental studies were conducted on 391 and 297 participants. The data gathered underwent analysis through five multivariate general linear model analyses.

The study found that CSR-linked sponsorship had the strongest positive impact and the weakest negative impact on the attitude and purchase intention of home team supporters and the attitude of rival team supporters. Nonetheless, the sponsor-team congruence did not significantly moderate the relationship. Additionally, the research demonstrated that the fan identity of both home and rival teams moderates the impact of sports sponsorships on attitude and purchase intention.

Previous research has studied the effectiveness of sponsorship format types independently. This is the first research comparing sponsorship formats regarding fan type and congruence.

This study aims to investigate how charitable advertising effectiveness in response to threat-based awe, an emotional response that typically arises in the presence of natural disasters, is likely to depend on the construal level.

Three experimental studies were conducted to examine the positive and negative effects of threat-based awe on charitable advertising effectiveness. Further, the moderating role of construal level was tested and the underlying mechanisms established.

Consumers who experience a high (vs low) level of threat-based awe donate more when evaluating a disaster-relief advertisement processed at a high construal level (e.g. when an advertisement is framed as a “why” message) but donate less when evaluating a disaster-relief advertisement processed at a low construal level (e.g. when an advertisement is framed as a “how” message). Further, the authors established two distinct mechanisms underlying these divergent effects. At a high construal level, consumers are driven by concern for others, whereas at a low construal level, consumers are driven by feelings of powerlessness.

The present research contributes to the literature on how emotions influence charitable advertising effectiveness by establishing the divergent effects of threat-based awe and the moderating role of construal level.

This paper offers managerial implications for nonprofits and charities in developing effective charitable advertising strategies in the context of natural disaster-relief campaigns.

The present research provides a novel perspective on when and why threat-based awe, a unique emotion arising in the case of natural disasters, can lead to positive or negative effects on charitable advertising effectiveness.

This paper aims to investigate how to improve the effectiveness of charitable advertising by matching emotional appeal (happy-faced vs sad-faced beneficiary) and message framing (recognition vs request) within advertising messages.

Two experiments examining real donation allocations were conducted. Study 1 established the “match-up” effect between advertising image and message. Study 2 replicated the findings of Study 1 as well as testing the mediating role of hope and sympathy.

The authors provide empirical evidence that consumers allocate a greater donation amount to a charity when they see an image of a sad-faced child combined with a request message (e.g. “please donate”), or an image of a happy-faced child combined with a recognition message (e.g. “thank you”). Notably, these effects are mediated by the emotions of hope and sympathy, respectively.

This research highlights the importance of matching images of beneficiaries with the appropriate advertising copy. Depending on whether a charity seeks to position itself in a positive perspective to evoke hope, or alternatively, portray itself in relation to a sadder landscape that elicits sympathy, the respective choice of recognition or request messages can help boost donation outcomes.

Charities and non-profit organizations can develop more effective charitable advertising by purposively matching specific emotional appeals and message framings when designing advertisements.

The research illustrates a novel mechanism that shows when and how combining image and message can influence the effectiveness of charitable advertising.

Child sponsorship programs have been accused of representing children in the developing world in a manner described as “development porn”. The purpose of this paper is to take an historical approach to investigating the use of advertising techniques by Plan Canada, a subsidiary of one of the oldest and largest child sponsorship‐based non‐governmental development agencies, Plan International, during the 1970s. This time period represents an important era in international development and a time of significant change in the charitable giving and advertising industries in Canada.

The authors conduct a content analysis on an archival collection of 468 print advertisements from the 1970s.

A description of the “typical” Plan Canada fund‐raising ad is presented and shown to be different, in several aspects, from other advertisements of the time period. It was determined that Plan Canada's advertisement did not cross the delicate line between showing the hardship and realities of life in the developing world for these children and what became known as “development porn”.

There has been little previous research which focuses specifically on the design of charity advertisements. This paper presents a historically contextualized description of such ads, providing a baseline for further research. It also raises important questions regarding the portrayal of the “other” in marketing communications and the extent to which aid agencies must go to attract the attention of potential donors.

This study investigates two important research questions. First, does YouTube advertising create value for customers to activate their inspired-by state (motivation), or does customer engagement in advertised brands have a mediating role? Second, does the inspired-by state influence customers’ inspired-to state (action) to purchase the advertised brand?

This study employs Ducoffe’s advertising value model to investigate how customers’ engagement mediates perceived advertising value and their inspired-by state. The authors split customer inspiration into two primary states: inspired-by (i.e. the early interest in taking action) and inspired-to (i.e. the intention to act), demonstrating that the latter is positively influenced by the former. The study employs SmartPLS V3.2.9 to analyze survey data from 360 respondents in Pakistan – an emerging market.

This study found that informativeness, entertainment, creativity and incentives exerted a significant positive impact on perceived advertising value. The perceived advertising value of YouTube ads fails to influence customers’ inspired-by state directly; however, customer engagement positively mediates the relationship between the perceived advertising value of YouTube and customers’ inspired-by state. Finally, the customers’ inspired-by state is successfully converted into an inspired-to state.

This study has numerous practical implications for advertisers and marketers seeking to optimize social media advertising and marketing performance.

YouTube ads shape consumer behavior, empowering informed choices; authentic engagement transforms the advertising landscape.

This study is the first to examine the perceived advertising value of YouTube ads for eliciting customers’ inspired-by state, assessing the mediating role of customer engagement as a mechanism. Moreover, the authors examine the role of customers’ inspired-by state as a predictor of the inspired-to state.

The purpose of this study is to test the visual superiority effect in a verisimilar scenario that an industry association seeks to manipulate consumers using a visual element in its ad while providing an ostensibly balanced claim about the potential health effects of stevia.

Two experiments were conducted. In Study 1, an online experiment was conducted with a sample of 112 adult consumers using a two-group (headline frame type: gain vs loss), post-test only design with additional planned analysis of an individual difference (i.e. regulatory focus). In Study 2, another online experiment was implemented with a sample of 175 adults using a 2 (headline frame type: gain vs loss) × 2 (image valence: positive vs negative) between-subjects design with additional planned analysis of regulatory focus. The hypotheses were tested by running the PROCESS macro on SPSS.

The results showed that when exposed to the advertising message designed to elicit uncertainty, participants relied more on the visual than the textual content (i.e. framed headline and body text) in forming attitude toward the behavior (i.e. consuming stevia). Analysis of cognitive responses also revealed that those who received the stimulus ad with an image added (Study 2) generated significantly fewer thoughts related to the textual content of the ad than those who received the ad with no image (Study 1).

This study represents one of the earliest experimental inquiries into the visual superiority effect in an advertising context. While earlier studies have tended to rely on dual-processing models to test the effects of advertising stimuli featuring both textual and visual elements, the findings of this study (e.g. visual content overwhelmed its textual counterpart in producing persuasive effects) somewhat contradict the premise of dual-processing models.

Prosocial advertisers widely use assertive messages to encourage prosocial attitudes and behaviors, but ironically, assertive messages may cause reactance. By applying cultural theories and the reciprocity principle, this study aims to observe whether consumers’ responses to assertive messages hold across culturally different audiences (Americans vs South Koreans) and different consumption situations (price discount vs no discount).

American and Korean participants take part in three experimental studies examining the interactions of nationality, price discounts and assertive messaging for influencing consumer responses, first to a prosocial ad encouraging recycling (Study 1), the second for a campaign requesting donations for disadvantaged children (Study 2) and the third to prosocial messages encouraging water conservation (Study 3).

The three experiments strongly support the moderating role of price discounts and cultural backgrounds in the persuasiveness of assertive prosocial messages. American consumers generally dislike assertive messages, but feel reciprocal obligations if marketers include price discounts, whereas South Korean consumers accept both assertive and nonassertive messages without resistance, and discounts have no effects on persuasion.

The findings make two key contributions to the literature and to prosocial advertising practices. First, although many corporations have adopted philanthropic strategies, few researchers have examined how specific consumption contexts determine the effectiveness of prosocial persuasion. The findings show how price discounts and message framing potentially alter the effectiveness of prosocial messages across Eastern and Western cultures. Second, assertive language evokes reactance, but the findings suggest that reactive responses to prosocial advertising are culture-specific.

International nonprofit organizations and brands using philanthropic strategies might use the guidelines of this study for tailoring strategic, practical prosocial messages that will appeal to consumers from diverse cultural backgrounds. In particular, pro-environmental and charity campaigns targeting North American or Western European populations may consider bundling discounts into promotions to evoke reciprocity.

Findings provide novel implications for social marketers regarding on how to couple message assertiveness and price discounts to maximize the success of prosocial messages in different cultures.

This paper aims to examine how mortality-related sadness, as compared to other emotions such as fear, anger and happiness, can leverage the effectiveness of fresh start appeals.

Drawing upon the consumption-based affect regulation principle, this paper investigates how sadness associated with mortality can elicit the appraisal of irretrievable loss, which subsequently increases the effectiveness of fresh start appeals. These predictions are tested across three experimental studies.

Findings demonstrate that mortality-related sadness enhances donation allocations (Study 1), willingness to pay (Study 2) and favorable attitudes (Study 3) toward an advertisement promoted with a fresh start appeal. This effect is mediated by an appraisal of irretrievable loss (Studies 1–3). Moreover, the emotion’s effect only emerges among consumers who believe that their emotional experiences are stable (vs malleable) (Study 3).

This paper investigates the effects of negative (vs positive emotions). It would thus be of interest to explore whether different discrete positive emotions may also enhance favorable evaluations of fresh start appeals.

While fresh start appeals have been widely used by marketers and organizations, the extant literature in this area has yet to identify how marketers can leverage the effectiveness of such appeals. This paper highlights how a specific negative emotion can be beneficial to marketers in leveraging the effectiveness of fresh start appeals.

The findings of this research suggest a novel potential strategy for the regulation of sadness. Specifically, consumers experiencing mortality-related sadness show favorable evaluations of fresh start appeals, indicating they are seeking to dissociate themselves from the past.

Purpose – Child sponsorship programs have been accused of representing children from the developing world in a manner described as “development porn” in their marketing communications, and of operating in such a way as to reinforce beliefs that people in the global South are powerless, dependent on help from the developed North. This research takes a critical, historical approach to investigating the marketing practices of Plan Canada, a subsidiary of one of the oldest and largest child sponsorship-based development agencies, in order to evaluate outcomes of charitable giving at the social and ideological level.

Methodology – We adopted a consumer storytelling theoretical lens to conduct narrative analysis of letters written by donors upon their return from visiting their sponsor children.

Findings – We reveal how even if aid recipients are treated with respect in marketing communications, ideological outcomes which reinforce Northern hegemony may still result.

Social implications – Although charitable acts by individuals are commonly encouraged and lauded, marketers may play a role in perpetuating negative outcomes that result from this consumer action, such as reinforcing notions of cultural difference and superiority.

Originality/value of paper – Only a few researchers have investigated the social and ideological outcomes of charitable giving. We investigate the outcome of charitable giving on the donor and recipient communities and relationship between these communities. Models of charitable giving need to be revised to include these outcomes.