Pride and gratitude: Egoistic versus altruistic appeals in social media advertising

In an examination of charitable advertising on social media, the authors show that pride and gratitude determine the effects of egoistic versus altruistic appeals. Across three experimental studies of prosocial advertising conducted in the United States and India, participants who are induced to feel pride are more influenced by Twitter and Instagram ads that focus on egoistic (vs. altruistic) benefits, while participants who are induced to feel gratitude are equally influenced by ads that focus on egoistic and altruistic benefits in terms of donating greater amounts (Study 1) and intending to donate (Studies 2 and 3). Theoretical insights and practical implications for social media fundraising campaigns are discussed.