Engaging Vietnamese Youth with a Heart-Winning Message for Disaster Fundraising

Abstract: Under the context of Typhoon Yagi that caused severe damage to the mountainous and coastal regions, this paper explores how appeal type (emotional vs. rational) and message framing (gain vs. loss) influence donation intentions for disaster relief, while testing the mediating roles of empathy and reciprocity, to craft messages that capture the hearts of Vietnamese youth by understanding how they interpret different messages. Study 1 employed an online survey (n = 818) with a 2 (loss-framed vs. gain-framed message) × 2 (emotional vs. rational appeal) factorial design. Study 2 supplemented these findings with qualitative insights from interviews (n=7), exploring participants’ interpretations of different message frames and their underlying motivations. The findings reveal that emotional appeals are more persuasive in encouraging donations, and loss-framed messages have a stronger impact than gain-framed messages. Notably, when emotional appeal is employed, loss framing exerts a greater influence on donation intention; conversely, gain framing proves to be more persuasive with rational appeal. These results underscore the pivotal role of empathy in shaping young individuals' receptiveness to charitable appeals, whereas reciprocity plays a minor role in affecting one’s decisions to support charity. These results offer practical guidance for optimizing communication approaches for fundraising efficacy.