Emotional appeals: the effects of donation button design on donor behaviour

Type of content
Theses / Dissertations
Publisher's DOI/URI
Thesis discipline
Psychology
Degree name
Master of Science
Publisher
University of Canterbury. Psychology
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Language
Date
2015
Authors
Seyb, Stella Kara
Abstract

Webpage design is an important factor in the capturing of new donor populations and increasing charitable giving. Charities often use emotional appeals when soliciting donations but little is known about the effects of embedding different verbal triggers directly into donation buttons. The aim of this study was to investigate the effects of three emotional triggers on donor compliance, donation amount and trust in the charity. A between-groups experimental design was used to test six hypotheses regarding the impact of social approval, empowerment, and guilt on donor compliance, donation amount and trust in the charity. Eighty students completed the research protocol using a simulated online donating platform. The hypotheses were not supported and the implications of the findings are discussed within the context of the strengths and limitations of the research design.

Description
Citation
Keywords
Donor behaviour, charitable giving, trust, donation button design
Ngā upoko tukutuku/Māori subject headings
ANZSRC fields of research
Rights
Copyright Stella Kara Seyb