TY - JOUR
T1 - Effects of Affect and Message Framing on Responses to Charity Advertising
T2 - A Construal Level and Regulatory Focus Perspective
AU - Anghelcev, George
AU - Sar, Sela
AU - Huang, Yan
N1 - Publisher Copyright:
© 2023 Central States Communication Association.
PY - 2024
Y1 - 2024
N2 - Charitable donation appeals can be framed to highlight the attainment of desirable outcomes (promotion framing) or the avoidance of undesirable situations (prevention framing). Drawing from regulatory focus theory, construal level theory, and the linguistic categorization model, this study reveals how the impact of the two messages frames can be influenced by the emotional state of the message recipient. Participants had more favorable attitudes toward charity advertisements, were more likely to donate to a food bank, and placed more value on donating when charity ads highlighted desirable end-states, but only if they were in a positive mood. In a negative mood, participants responded better to charity ads that described how donations could be used to avoid undesirable situations. Analysis showed these effects might occur because people process information differently under the two mood conditions and the two message frames trigger different motivational mind-sets.
AB - Charitable donation appeals can be framed to highlight the attainment of desirable outcomes (promotion framing) or the avoidance of undesirable situations (prevention framing). Drawing from regulatory focus theory, construal level theory, and the linguistic categorization model, this study reveals how the impact of the two messages frames can be influenced by the emotional state of the message recipient. Participants had more favorable attitudes toward charity advertisements, were more likely to donate to a food bank, and placed more value on donating when charity ads highlighted desirable end-states, but only if they were in a positive mood. In a negative mood, participants responded better to charity ads that described how donations could be used to avoid undesirable situations. Analysis showed these effects might occur because people process information differently under the two mood conditions and the two message frames trigger different motivational mind-sets.
KW - charity advertising
KW - construal level theory
KW - message framing
KW - Mood
KW - promotion–prevention
KW - regulatory focus theory
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U2 - 10.1080/10510974.2023.2266873
DO - 10.1080/10510974.2023.2266873
M3 - Article
AN - SCOPUS:85174187427
SN - 1051-0974
VL - 75
SP - 115
EP - 131
JO - Communication Studies
JF - Communication Studies
IS - 2
ER -