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Are you emotionally connected? : The effect of image valence and empathy in charitable advertising in animal welfare on viewer responses.

Liu, Y. (2018) Are you emotionally connected? : The effect of image valence and empathy in charitable advertising in animal welfare on viewer responses.

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Abstract:Emotional appeal is frequently used in charitable advertising by philanthropic organizations to generate donations. Image valence, as an effective element of the emotional appeal, is rarely researched in the context of animal welfare. This study investigates how animal welfare organizations could benefit from different valenced images. Moreover, empathy (aroused by a human image) is also considered to examine whether and (if yes) how it helps to strengthen the effectiveness of image valence on ad viewer responses. The dependent variables interested in this study were emotional response, guilt and donation intention. A 2 (Image valence: negative vs. positive) by 2 (Empathy: high vs. low) between-subjects experimental design was conducted to test adverts on four constructs (n=203). The results showed viewers exposed to a charity advert with negative valenced image have similar response in emotional responses, guilt and donation intention as those exposed to an ad with a positive valence image. Moreover, the results indicated a positive relationship between empathy and the feeling of guilt. Interaction effects of image valence and empathy on emotional response and guilt were also demonstrated. The results also suggested that parents and pet owners are not the effective target groups to collect donations for animal welfare organizations.
Item Type:Essay (Master)
Faculty:BMS: Behavioural, Management and Social Sciences
Subject:05 communication studies
Programme:Communication Studies MSc (60713)
Link to this item:https://purl.utwente.nl/essays/76163
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