Abstract

This research investigates the interaction between ego depletion (a state of reduced self-regulatory resources) and different types of charitable message appeals upon subsequent charitable support. Three experiments compare the time donation intent and actual monetary donations of depleted (vs. non-depleted) individuals who have been exposed to either a self-benefit message, highlighting the gains to be accrued to donors themselves, or an other-benefit message which focuses on the welfare of beneficiaries. The results show that when people are depleted, self-benefit messages are more effective than other-benefit messages in generating charitable support. When people are not depleted, the opposite pattern is observed. It appears that generosity among depleted people is self-seeking. As a processing mechanism, we show that depleted individuals perceive self-benefit messages as more appealing than the other-benefit messages. This research demonstrates that charities can maximize donations by advertising other-benefit messages in the morning and then self-benefit messages in the evening, given that depletion occurs naturally over the course of the day.

摘要

本研究调查了自我耗竭（一种自我调节资源减少的状态）与不同类型的慈善信息呼吁在随后的慈善支持下之间的相互作用。三个实验比较了已消耗（与未消耗）个人的时间捐赠意图和实际金钱捐赠，这些人已经暴露于自我利益信息，突出了捐赠者自己应获得的收益，或其他利益信息关注受益人的福利。结果表明，当人们精疲力竭时，在产生慈善支持方面，自我利益信息比其他利益信息更有效。当人们没有精疲力竭时，就会观察到相反的模式。看来，精疲力竭的人的慷慨是自利的。作为一种处理机制，我们表明，耗竭的个人认为自我利益信息比其他利益信息更有吸引力。这项研究表明，鉴于在一天中自然会消耗殆尽，慈善机构可以通过在早上宣传其他好处信息，然后在晚上宣传自我受益信息来最大限度地增加捐款。