Does Sadness Sell? The Use of Negative Emotions in Fundraising Appeals: Fundraising Strategies for For-profit and Nonprofit Organizations

Fundraising appeals frequently feature sad victims. This research postulates that the evaluation of fundraising appeals by consumers and their willingness to donate are contingent upon the congruence between organizational stereotypes (warm vs. competent) and the intensity of the negative emotion expressed in the appeal. Results show that when for-profit organizations employ negative emotional narratives, rather than non-emotional factual appeals, evaluations are less favorable (Experiment 1). Additionally, highly negative emotional appeals featuring multiple sad children designed to evoke compassion do not increase donations in for-profit fundraising campaigns (Experiment 2). These findings suggest that negative emotional appeals may backfire on for-profit organizations.