“I Lose” “I Gain” vs. “They Lose” “They Gain”: The Influence of Message Framing on Donation Intentions in Disaster Fundraising

Authors

  • Yuan Wang Department of Communication, University of Maryland, College Park, MD, USA Author
  • Jiyoun Kim Department of Communication, University of Maryland, College Park, MD, USA Author
  • Allison Chatham Department of Communication, University of Maryland, College Park, MD, USA Author
  • Lingyan Ma Department of Communication, University of Maryland, College Park, MD, USA Author

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.63278/jicrcr.v5i1.39

Keywords:

gain vs. loss framing, first vs. third-person imagery perspective, donation, disaster recovery, prosocial behavior

Abstract

Grounded in the 2018 California Camp Fire context, this study explores how message framing in charitable appeals influences individuals’ donation intentions. A 2 (firstperson imagery perspective vs. third-person imagery perspective) × 2 (gain frame vs. loss frame) between-subject online experiment was conducted via Amazon’s MTurk (n = 475). Results showed that gain/loss framing and imagery perspectives interactively influenced participants’ donation intentions. Specifically, when a message is lossframed, a first-person imagery perspective (“I lose”) message is more effective than a third-person imagery perspective (“they lose”) message in enhancing participants’ perceived issue relevance, induced empathy, and donation intention. In addition, when the message is framed with a third-person imagery perspective, a gain-framed (“they gain”) message is more persuasive than a loss-framed (“they lose”) message.

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Published

2022-03-21

Issue

Section

Articles

How to Cite

“I Lose” “I Gain” vs. “They Lose” “They Gain”: The Influence of Message Framing on Donation Intentions in Disaster Fundraising. (2022). Journal of International Crisis and Risk Communication Research, 5(1). https://doi.org/10.63278/jicrcr.v5i1.39

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