Cultural Orientation Affects Consumer Responses to Charity Advertising

Abstract

I examined the different effects that source cues (in-group vs. out-group membership) and message approaches (rational vs. emotional appeals) have on the attitudes of consumers with individualistic and collectivistic cultural orientations toward charity advertising and donation intention. Participants (105 and 99 college students from Korea and the US, respectively) viewed a charity donation appeal advertisement, then rated their attitude toward the advertisement and donation intention. Results showed that compared with the individualistic U.S. students, collectivistic Korean students had a more positive attitude toward the advertisement and a higher donation intention when the in-group source cue and emotional message approach were used. In contrast, rational message appeals were more effective for U.S. students, and no significant differences were observed among this group regarding the in-group and out-group source cue types. My findings implied that charity advertising campaigners may need to use different approaches in terms of group membership and message approaches depending on cultural orientation, thereby motivating people to have a positive attitude toward charity advertising and donation intention.