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Guilt appeals: The mediating effect of responsibility
Author(s) -
Basil Debra Z.,
Ridgway Nancy M.,
Basil Michael D.
Publication year - 2006
Publication title -
psychology and marketing
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.035
H-Index - 116
eISSN - 1520-6793
pISSN - 0742-6046
DOI - 10.1002/mar.20145
Subject(s) - prosocial behavior , donation , psychology , social psychology , social responsibility , altruism (biology) , salient , helping behavior , corporate social responsibility , moral responsibility , norm (philosophy) , test (biology) , public relations , law , political science , paleontology , biology
This research was conducted to assess how guilt appeals operate in soliciting charitable donations. It was hypothesized that a sense of responsibility would enhance the effectiveness of charitable guilt appeals, thus leading to larger charitable donations. It was also hypothesized that the presence of others would make salient a prosocial norm, thus increasing a sense of responsibility to help. Two laboratory experiments were conducted to test these hypotheses. The effect of guilt on charitable‐donation intention and actual donations was mediated by a sense of responsibility. Additionally, the presence of others enhanced the sense of responsibility to behave prosocially. These findings have implications for the design of charitable‐donation campaigns. © 2006 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.