Effects of picture and even-a-penny-will-help appeals on anonymous donations to charity.
The present research explored the effectiveness of a picture and the phrase "even a penny will help" on contributions to charity. Two experiments were conducted, one in the laboratory and one in the field. In both experiments the manipulation of a pleasant picture and the phrase created four types of signs: (1) picture-no phrase, (2) phrase-no picture, (3) picture-phrase, and (4) no picture-no phrase. In the field experiment patrons of local business anonymously put money in a donation box that displayed one of the four signs. In the laboratory experiment, 129 undergraduate students were randomly assigned to view one of the four signs placed on a donation box for a local charity. Analyses for both studies showed that more money was donated when the boxes displayed pictures. The phrase "even a penny will help" had no significant effect on donations.
Perrine
R M
RM
Psychology Department, Eastern Kentucky University, Richmond 40475, USA.
Heather
S
S
D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000533:Altruism; D002608:Charities; D003657:Decision Making; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009042:Motivation; D010565:Persuasive Communication