The interactive effect of emotional appeals and past performance of a charity on the effectiveness of charitable advertising

Past research has shown the significant role of emotional appeals in charitable advertising. Most studies in this area have examined the effects of negative emotions, but it is less clear when and how positive emotions can also be effective in encouraging donation allocations. Across two experimental studies, the present research demonstrates that the congruent matching of pride with positive past performance and compassion with negative past performance increases donation allocations. This ‘match-up’ effect emerges because pride elicits concerns for merit, whereas compassion elicits concerns for need. These findings offer important implications, both theoretically and managerially, by systematically highlighting how different, discrete positive emotions – pride and compassion – can be beneficial in charitable advertising, depending on the message highlighting the past performance of a charity.