Prospective donors' cognitive and emotive processing of charitable gift requests

Utilizing Ajzen's (1985) theory of planned behavior as the theoretical basis, prospective donors' cognitive and emotive processing of requests for charitable gifts was examined. The study extended the model by including emotional involvement operationalized as self-reported strength of discrete emotions. Within a counterbalanced design, subjects (N = 144) watched 3 nonprofit organizations' fundraising videos and were offered a {dollar}15 honorarium, which could be contributed to the organizations as a measure of behavior. Among attitudes toward (a) making a gift, (b) philanthropy, and (c) the organization, only attitude toward the gift (ATT G) was found to explain a significant portion of behavioral intention (BI). Social and moral norms were found to be components of subjective norms and contributed to behavior intention, whereas descriptive norms did not. Perceived behavioral control also contributed to BI. BI was not related to actual behavior, nor were attitudes or perceived behavioral control. Among the emotions, sadness and puzzlement negatively impacted ATT G and compassion positively impacted ATT G. Anger, sadness, and contentment negatively impacted BI and compassion positively affected BI. Higher levels of fear, contentment, happiness, and compassion were related to more positive ATT G, whereas higher levels of anger and puzzlement were related to less positive ATT G. Implications for both theory development and professional practice are presented. First, although the TPB effectively predicts intentions to make a charitable gift, the study questions the assumption that positive attitudes or intentions are related to behavior. This study suggests that there are other factors which may impact behavior. Second, this study confirms that people have multiple emotional reactions to altruistic requests, suggesting that research examining the impact of single emotions on persuasive situations may be inadequate. Third, the study suggests that there are cognitions and emotions simultaneously being considered in the decision-making process. For the fundraising professional, these results suggest that development officers should closely monitor prospective donors' emotional reactions, assess an individual's attitude toward making a gift, provide information reinforcing that others are making gifts as well as the oligation to assist others, and reinforce the affordability of the gift.