Research On The Influence Of Victim Image Valence And Psychological Distance On Individual Donation Willingness

Online charitable platforms often use donation appeals to call on people to help people in need.These donation appeals usually include text or pictures.However,all donation appeals,whether text or pictures,they convey the important message of victim image valence revealing the victim's positive or negative attitude toward the current life to potential donors.Previous research on donation appeals has demonstrated that on the one hand,negative victim image stimulates helping behavior by highlighting the severity of the problem and the urgency of the need;on the other hand,positive victim image has a positive impact on donations by stimulating positive feelings.Nevertheless,the context in which one victim image type is more effective than the other is not discussed by scholars.This research shows that which victim image is effective depends on the psychological distance between the individuals and victims.Specifically,when they are psychologically close,individuals are more likely to donate to the victim who exhibits the negative image(vs.positive image).However,when they are psychologically distant,people are more willing to donate to victims who exhibits the positive image(vs.negative image).We argue that this effect is due to close versus distant levels of psychological distance triggering changes in emotions.The close psychological distance allows the individual to consider the plight of other people from the victim-perspective.The victim who presents a negative image(vs.positive image)highlights the severity of the plight,which triggers the individual to feel the emotion of sympathy for the victim and therefore enhances donation willingness to the victim presented by negative image(vs.positive image).However,the distant psychological distance makes individuals less likely to empathize with others and more likely to adopt self-perspective;Therefore,the negative image of the victim is unlikely to evoke the sympathy of individuals due to difficulties of victims.Meanwhile,the victim who presents positive image(vs.negative image)makes individuals feel inspired by positive qualities of the victim.The motivational property of inspiration stimulates the individual to donate to the victim presented by positive image(vs.negative image).Four studies provide evidence for the individual's donation preferences for different victim image at different level of psychological distance and the underlying process via distinct emotions.This research makes theoretical contributions.First,the conclusions of this research extend the existing work on victim image valence in the field of donation;Second,the present research also extends previous research on moral emotion in the field of donation;Finally,this research adds to the stream of literature examining congruence effect in donation contexts.More importantly,this research also produces practical implications.We offer important insights to charitable organizations regarding how they design effective donation appeals.Online charitable organizations should flexibly exhibit different victim images based on the psychological distance between individuals and victims.Particularly if the victim is psychologically distant from us,such as a foreign victim or a stranger,showing the positive image will be more effective than showing the negative image and more likely to enhance individual donation willingness to victims.Conversely,if the victim is psychologically close to us,such as a sick friend,providing the negative image will be more effective at soliciting donations than the positive image,and it is easy for the close victim to raise a large amount of funds in a short period.