IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/eee/jbrese/v63y2010i7p754-762.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Charitable organizations' storytelling influence on donors' emotions and intentions

Author

Listed:
  • Merchant, Altaf
  • Ford, John B.
  • Sargeant, Adrian

Abstract

The stories told by charitable organizations are typically designed to take the consumer through different emotional stages. This research probes the view that following exposure to the inciting incident or problem statement in the appeal for a particular charity, the consumer feels negative emotions. These feelings convert into anticipated positive emotions when the consumer is given the opportunity to help the person in need through a donation. Feedback that donors receive from the charitable organization will help to strengthen the emotional pay-off and enhances future donation intentions. The research utilizes an experimental design and data from 319 undergraduate students in a large U.S. university to confirm these hypotheses. Theoretical and managerial implications are then presented.

Suggested Citation

  • Merchant, Altaf & Ford, John B. & Sargeant, Adrian, 2010. "Charitable organizations' storytelling influence on donors' emotions and intentions," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 63(7), pages 754-762, July.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:jbrese:v:63:y:2010:i:7:p:754-762
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0148-2963(09)00170-2
    Download Restriction: Full text for ScienceDirect subscribers only
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to search for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Andreoni, James, 1990. "Impure Altruism and Donations to Public Goods: A Theory of Warm-Glow Giving?," Economic Journal, Royal Economic Society, vol. 100(401), pages 464-477, June.
    2. Woodside, Arch G., 2008. "Using the forced metaphor-elicitation technique (FMET) to meet animal companions within self," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 61(5), pages 480-487, May.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Björn Vollan & Karla Henning & Deniza Staewa, 2017. "Do campaigns featuring impact evaluations increase donations? Evidence from a survey experiment," Journal of Development Effectiveness, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 9(4), pages 500-518, October.
    2. Yong You Nie & Austin Rong Da Liang & Dun Ji Chen, 2017. "Assessing the effect of organic-food short storytelling on consumer response," The Service Industries Journal, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 37(15-16), pages 968-985, December.
    3. Anh Dang & Trung Nguyen, 2021. "Valuation Effect of Emotionality in Corporate Philanthropy," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 173(1), pages 47-67, September.
    4. Muhammad Ashraf Azrul, 2024. "Persuasive Language Strategies Utilised by the Student Representative Council in Fundraising for Programs," International Journal of Research and Innovation in Social Science, International Journal of Research and Innovation in Social Science (IJRISS), vol. 8(10), pages 1758-1773, October.
    5. van Rijn, Jordan & Quinones, Esteban J. & Barham, Bradford L., 2017. "An Experimental Test of Gender Differences in Charitable Giving: Empathy Is at the Heart of the Matter," Staff Paper Series 586, University of Wisconsin, Agricultural and Applied Economics.
    6. Philippe Odou & Marie Schill, 2020. "How anticipated emotions shape behavioral intentions to fight climate change," Post-Print hal-02929920, HAL.
    7. Ana C. Martinez-Levy & Dario Rossi & Giulia Cartocci & Marco Mancini & Gianluca Flumeri & Arianna Trettel & Fabio Babiloni & Patrizia Cherubino, 2022. "Message framing, non-conscious perception and effectiveness in non-profit advertising. Contribution by neuromarketing research," International Review on Public and Nonprofit Marketing, Springer;International Association of Public and Non-Profit Marketing, vol. 19(1), pages 53-75, March.
    8. Abela, Andrew V., 2014. "Appealing to the imagination: Effective and ethical marketing of religion," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 67(2), pages 50-58.
    9. Stenstrom, Eric P. & Saad, Gad & Hingston, Sean T., 2018. "Menstrual cycle effects on prosocial orientation, gift giving, and charitable giving," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 84(C), pages 82-88.
    10. Merchant, Altaf & Ford, John B. & Rose, Gregory, 2011. "How personal nostalgia influences giving to charity," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 64(6), pages 610-616, June.
    11. Michel, Géraldine & Rieunier, Sophie, 2012. "Nonprofit brand image and typicality influences on charitable giving," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 65(5), pages 701-707.
    12. Karolina Kaczorowska & Jodie Conduit & Steven Goodman, 2024. "Engaging through storytelling: the interplay of engagement with a story, cause, and charity," Journal of Brand Management, Palgrave Macmillan, vol. 31(3), pages 265-292, May.
    13. Beatriz Casais & Sara Santos, 2018. "Corporate Propensity for Long-Term Donations to Non-Profit Organisations: An Exploratory Study in Portugal," Social Sciences, MDPI, vol. 8(1), pages 1-10, December.
    14. Filo, Kevin & Fechner, David & Inoue, Yuhei, 2020. "Charity sport event participants and fundraising: An examination of constraints and negotiation strategies," Sport Management Review, Elsevier, vol. 23(3), pages 387-400.
    15. Vonțea Andreea-Angela, 2018. "Determinants of the Individuals’ Willingness to Support Nonprofit Organizations – An Integrative Theoretical Perspective," International Conference on Marketing and Business Development Journal, The Bucharest University of Economic Studies, vol. 1(2), pages 84-91, December.
    16. Keel, Astrid L. & Tran, An T.K., 2023. "Increasing small nonprofits’ influence through strategic storytelling," Business Horizons, Elsevier, vol. 66(3), pages 359-370.
    17. Hamby, Anne & Orazi, Davide & Moreau, Patrick, 2024. "Whose story is this? Source reveal as a communication tactic to increase consumers’ advocacy for social causes," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 170(C).
    18. Merchant, Altaf & Rose, Gregory & Martin, Drew & Choi, Sunmee & Gour, Mohit, 2017. "Cross-cultural folk-tale-elicitation research on the perceived power, humanistic and religious symbolisms, and use of money," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 74(C), pages 113-119.
    19. van Rijn, Jordan & Barham, Bradford & Sundaram-Stukel, Reka, 2016. "An Experimental Approach to Comparing Similarity- and Guilt-Based Charitable Appeals," Staff Paper Series 584, University of Wisconsin, Agricultural and Applied Economics.
    20. van Rijn, Jordan & Barham, Bradford & Sundaram-Stukel, Reka, 2017. "An experimental approach to comparing similarity- and guilt-based charitable appeals," Journal of Behavioral and Experimental Economics (formerly The Journal of Socio-Economics), Elsevier, vol. 68(C), pages 25-40.
    21. Catherine A. Roster, 2015. "“Help, I Have Too Much Stuff!”: Extreme Possession Attachment and Professional Organizers," Journal of Consumer Affairs, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 49(2), pages 303-327, July.
    22. Odou, Philippe & Schill, Marie, 2020. "How anticipated emotions shape behavioral intentions to fight climate change," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 121(C), pages 243-253.
    23. Yi-Min Li, 2014. "Effects of Story Marketing and Travel Involvement on Tourist Behavioral Intention in the Tourism Industry," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 6(12), pages 1-11, December.

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Heineck, Guido & Süssmuth, Bernd, 2013. "A different look at Lenin’s legacy: Social capital and risk taking in the Two Germanies," Journal of Comparative Economics, Elsevier, vol. 41(3), pages 789-803.
    2. Mengyuan Zhou, 2022. "Does the Source of Inheritance Matter in Bequest Attitudes? Evidence from Japan," Journal of Family and Economic Issues, Springer, vol. 43(4), pages 867-887, December.
    3. Anne Corcos & Yorgos Rizopoulos, 2011. "Is prosocial behavior egocentric? The “invisible hand” of emotions," Post-Print halshs-01968213, HAL.
    4. Josse Delfgaauw & Robert Dur, 2008. "Incentives and Workers' Motivation in the Public Sector," Economic Journal, Royal Economic Society, vol. 118(525), pages 171-191, January.
    5. Lohse, Johannes & Goeschl, Timo & Diederich , Johannes, 2014. "Giving is a question of time: Response times and contributions to a real world public good," Working Papers 0566, University of Heidelberg, Department of Economics.
    6. Cristiano Cechella, 2011. "The Influence Of Cultural Affinity For The Boost Of Brazilian Investment In Portugal," Regional Science Inquiry, Hellenic Association of Regional Scientists, vol. 0(1), pages 59-72, June.
    7. Carattini, Stefano & Gillingham, Kenneth & Meng, Xiangyu & Yoeli, Erez, 2024. "Peer-to-peer solar and social rewards: Evidence from a field experiment," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 219(C), pages 340-370.
    8. Aseem Kaul & Jiao Luo, 2018. "An economic case for CSR: The comparative efficiency of for‐profit firms in meeting consumer demand for social goods," Strategic Management Journal, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 39(6), pages 1650-1677, June.
    9. repec:esx:essedp:762 is not listed on IDEAS
    10. Andreoni, James & Serra-Garcia, Marta, 2021. "Time inconsistent charitable giving," Journal of Public Economics, Elsevier, vol. 198(C).
    11. Delgado, Michael S. & Khanna, Neha, 2015. "Voluntary Pollution Abatement and Regulation," Agricultural and Resource Economics Review, Cambridge University Press, vol. 44(1), pages 1-20, April.
    12. Jochimsen, Beate, 2019. "Christmas lights in Berlin: New empirical evidence for the private provision of a public good," FiFo Discussion Papers - Finanzwissenschaftliche Diskussionsbeiträge 19-04, University of Cologne, FiFo Institute for Public Economics.
    13. Keval Amin & Erica Harris, 2022. "The Effect of Investor Sentiment on Nonprofit Donations," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 175(2), pages 427-450, January.
    14. Bruno S. Frey & Stephan Meier, "undated". "Pro-Social Behavior, Reciprocity or Both?," IEW - Working Papers 107, Institute for Empirical Research in Economics - University of Zurich.
    15. Bruno S. Frey & Alois Stutzer, 2006. "Environmental Morale and Motivation," CREMA Working Paper Series 2006-17, Center for Research in Economics, Management and the Arts (CREMA).
    16. Ayelet Gneezy & Alex Imas & Amber Brown & Leif D. Nelson & Michael I. Norton, 2012. "Paying to Be Nice: Consistency and Costly Prosocial Behavior," Management Science, INFORMS, vol. 58(1), pages 179-187, January.
    17. Chilton, S. M. & Hutchinson, W. G., 2000. "A note on the warm glow of giving and scope sensitivity in contingent valuation studies," Journal of Economic Psychology, Elsevier, vol. 21(4), pages 343-349, August.
    18. Arno Riedl & Paul Smeets, 2017. "Why Do Investors Hold Socially Responsible Mutual Funds?," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 72(6), pages 2505-2550, December.
    19. Yamamura, Eiji & Tsutsui, Yoshiro & Ohtake, Fumio, 2018. "Altruistic and selfish motivations of charitable giving: The case of the hometown tax donation system (Furusato nozei) in Japan," MPRA Paper 86181, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    20. Stephen Leider & Markus M. Möbius & Tanya Rosenblat & Quoc-Anh Do, 2010. "What Do We Expect from Our Friends?," Journal of the European Economic Association, MIT Press, vol. 8(1), pages 120-138, March.
    21. Massimiliano Mazzanti & Valeria Costantini & Susanna Mancinelli & Massimilano Corradini, 2011. "Environmental and Innovation Performance in a Dynamic Impure Public Good Framework," Working Papers 201117, University of Ferrara, Department of Economics.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:eee:jbrese:v:63:y:2010:i:7:p:754-762. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Catherine Liu (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.elsevier.com/locate/jbusres .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.