Causal controllability and consumer response to charitable appeals
Item
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Title
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Causal controllability and consumer response to charitable appeals
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Identifier
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d_2009_2013:a594e94f08e3:11302
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identifier
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11714
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Creator
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DeMotta, Yoshiko,
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Contributor
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Stephen J. Gould | Sankar Sen
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Date
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2012
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Language
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English
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Publisher
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City University of New York.
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Subject
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Marketing | Causal controllability | Consumer psychology | Deliberation | Donation | Vulnerability
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Abstract
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The main purpose of this dissertation is to investigate factors that affect the relationship between causal controllability and donation decisions and to suggest effective communication methods for fund-raising efforts. Causal controllability refers to the degree to which an observer of another person's misfortune perceives that misfortune to be the fault or responsibility of the person in need of help. It has been identified that causal controllability plays an important role in determining interpersonal helping and donation behavior. A person is more likely to help another person when the cause of the need for help is perceived to be uncontrollable than when it is perceived to be controllable. Because past research assesses causal controllability based on other-directed cognitions and focuses exclusively on the circumstances of the person in need of help, we know little about how potential helpers' vulnerability to a given misfortune impacts their causal controllability perceptions and donation decisions. Essay 1 investigates this research question and demonstrates how potential helpers' control orientation affects causal controllability perceptions of a misfortune and subsequent donation decisions. Essay 2 investigates how the negative evaluations from the perception of high controllability of a misfortune can be reduced. I demonstrate that a charitable request that excludes (vs. includes) a victim's personal information and promotes a potential donor's deliberative thought will increase donation to the misfortune that is construed as controllable.
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Type
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dissertation
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Source
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2009_2013.csv
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degree
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Ph.D.
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Program
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Business
