Eyes full of stories: the interaction effect of gaze direction and narrative perspective in charitable advertisements

While the portrayal of recipients in charitable advertisements prevails in practice and has garnered research attention, there remains a lack of investigation into the impact of recipients' gazes. This research focuses on two forms of gaze—direct gaze and averted gaze—in charitable advertisements, aiming to explore the interaction effects between gazes, narratives (first-person and third-person perspectives), and urgency of causes in these advertisements. We conducted three online experiments (N = 964) and performed ANOVA and bootstrap analysis to investigate these effects. The results revealed that direct (averted) gazes exhibited by recipients can enhance advertisement effectiveness when ad appeal is narrated from a first-person (third-person) perspective, which is mediated by perceived sincerity and subjective socioeconomic status. Besides, this interaction effect of gazes and narrative perspectives is effective when project information is non-urgent (but not urgent). The findings provide novel implications that guide managers and advertisers to tailor charitable advertisements to align with recipients' gazes available.