COVID-19 Charity Advertising: Identifiable Victim Message Framing, Self-Construal, and Donation Intent

We investigate the interactive effect of donors' self-construal and frame of a persuasive message (emphasizing statistical or identifiable victims affected by COVID-19) on donation intent. Three studies featuring 1,104 participants document a positive effect of the identifiable victim (vs. statistical victims) frame on donation intent, but only for interdependent respondents and not for independent ones (study 1). This conditional positive effect of the identifiable victim frame is due to interdependents' heightened holistic thinking style (studies 2 and 3). Findings have public significance for addressing COVID-related economic challenges. The paper concludes with theoretical contributions, practical implications, and ideas for future research.