Examining the Effects of Photographic Attributes on Sympathy, Emotions, and Donation Behavior

Baberini, Marta; Coleman, Cynthia-Lou; Slovic, Paul; Västfjäll, Daniel

doi:10.1080/15551393.2015.1061433

Cited by 60 publications

(45 citation statements)

References 17 publications

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“…There is some research on donation behavior that could be seen as similar to our setting. In line with our predictions, most of this research supports the empathy-helping hypothesis, according to which sad depictions of people in need increase feelings of empathy and hence promote donation behavior [1,8,23]. Our results tended towards the opposite direction, though.…”

Section: Conclusion and Discussionsupporting

confidence: 91%

Smile or Cry?

Dahlinger

Wortmann

2016

Proceedings of the 2016 CHI Conference Extended Abstracts on Human Factors in Computing Systems

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Today's wide spread of smartphones bares high potential for the effectiveness of emergency or helping applications. But helping is a complex psycho-social process. This has important implications for the UI design of such applications. In our research, we tested the effect of a victim's facial expression (sad vs. happy) on a potential helper's willingness to help in an online scenario. We further investigated, how the facial expression interacts with another well researched social phenomenon: the bystander effect. The results of this early research were mostly not as expected, but reveal interesting insights that are discussed and that open an exciting research avenue with important practical implications when it comes to the design of digital helping systems.

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Section: Conclusion and Discussionsupporting

confidence: 91%

Smile or Cry?

Dahlinger

Wortmann

2016

Proceedings of the 2016 CHI Conference Extended Abstracts on Human Factors in Computing Systems

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“…For example, people gain an understanding about an issue, experience an emotional response, such as interest or worry, and actively respond by changing climaterelevant behavior or political action. Research has shown that the content of the message [7,8], and level of visual immersion [9][10][11] can have an impact on the intensity of emotional responses and influence behavior [12]. Recently the nature documentary series Our Planet has received a plethora of media attention for the use of the negative framing of human-induced climate change impacts on nature which the series uses to push viewers toward a conservation website "to discover what we need to do now to protect our jungles" [13].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Virtual reality as a tool for environmental conservation and fundraising

2020

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Anecdotal evidence from philanthropic fundraisers shows that virtual reality (VR) technology increases empathy and can influence people toward pro-environmental behavior. Non-profit organizations are increasingly marketing their causes using virtual reality and they report increased donations when VR technology is employed. In VR, users are immersed in situations intended to feel more like the real world through technology, such as 360˚video viewed through 3D headsets that block out visual and auditory distractions. The framing of the message as either positive or negative has long shown to have an effect on behavior, although consensus on the impact of framing has not been reached in relation to encouraging contributions to public goods. This paper focuses on field experiments used to investigate the effects of varying degrees of visual immersion and positive versus negative message framing on respondents' contributions to a conservation charity. Participants were exposed to a five-minute underwater film about coral reefs and the importance of protecting them. We employed a 2x2 experimental design using 3D head-mounted displays comparing 360˚film footage vs. unidirectional film and a positive message vs. a negative message. After watching the film, each participant completed a short questionnaire and had the opportunity to donate to a marine conservation charity.

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“…First, in this paper, negative and positive appeals should be understood in relative rather than in absolute terms. Past research show that it is much easier to induce negative emotions than positive emotions with charity appeals (Baberini et al, 2015) so the baseline valance of charity appeals is arguably negative. Thus, by saying that a charitable appeal is "positive," we do not necessarily mean that it increases positive or decreases negative emotions but only that it elicits more positive emotions and fewer negative emotions than an alternative appeal written in the same context but framed negatively.…”

Section: Definition Of Negative and Positive Appealsmentioning

confidence: 99%