Sustainability, Vol. 11, Pages 6228: Time or Money? The Influence of Warm and Competent Appeals on Donation Intentions (Sustainability)

Charitable donations are important for healthy functioning and the sustainable development of our society. Individuals are making great contributions by donating their money or volunteering their time. Previous studies have discussed advertising strategies to promote either money or time donation. However, few have focused on money and time donation in one study or compared the effectiveness of advertising strategies to promote different types of donations. To promote an individual’s participation, this paper explores the role of advertising appeals in donation intentions. From the perspective of social cognition, this paper examines the influence of warm and competent advertising appeals on an individual’s donation intentions of time and money based on trait activation theory, revealing the underlying mechanisms. The results show that under the warm advertising appeal conditions, individuals are more willing to donate time due to the mediating role played by social connectedness. In contrast, under the competent advertising appeal conditions, individuals are more willing to donate money due to the mediating role played by competitive orientation. The implications and limitations are also discussed in this paper.