Celebrity Endorsements and Donations: Empirical Investigation of Impact on Philanthropic Giving

Abstract

This study investigates the effects of celebrity endorsers on donations and views of nonprofits. Celebrity endorsers and their relationships with nonprofits evoke a series of emotions that greatly affect how people perceive and donate to nonprofit organizations. Past research demonstrates the tremendous growth in individual philanthropy and the importance of celebrities as influencers on social media. Data was obtained from a random sample of 277 individuals and subjected to statistical analyses. By studying two different celebrities that come from a different race, gender, and background, we found that our findings and significance values changed depending on which celebrity was tested. Our findings indicated that ads that evoke positive emotions are more likely to convert to donations. Demographic characteristics, such as age, gender, and income also affect donations. In some cases, the nonprofit's cause and advertising message were powerful enough to override the impact of the celebrity. Our findings can help marketers style their ads to evoke certain emotions, by using celebrity endorsers that will help them increase donations. Furthermore, understanding what drives donors will help nonprofits tailor marketing strategies. It is expected that by targeting their donor base effectively, non-profits will then witness an increase in donations.

How preexisting beliefs and message involvement drive charitable donations: an integrated model

“…Data for the pre-test were collected via snowball sampling (Biernacki and Waldorf, 1981) in an online questionnaire distributed via email and social network sites. Because age has been shown to influence donations (O’Neil and Schenke, 2007; Peterson et al , 2018; Yen, 2002), a screening question was asked to ensure participants were at least 21 years old. After eliminating respondents ( n = 75) who either failed to complete the survey, did not follow directions or did not meet the age requirement, a final sample size of 235 (75.8%) was evaluated with a mean age of 49.5 ( SD = 16.28) that was 53.6% male.…”

“…Research has found demographic variables such as income (Jones and Posnett, 1991), education (Mears, 1992), age (Peterson et al , 2018) and gender (Nichols, 1998) are strong predictors of donation levels. Therefore, it is possible that demographic variables may serve as moderators similar to how involvement is in this study.…”

“…Research has found demographic variables such as income (Jones and Posnett, 1991), education (Mears, 1992), age (Peterson et al, 2018) and gender (Nichols, 1998) The federal government will have to introduce harsh measures to halt pollution, as few people will regulate themselves 0.695 0.865 2.…”

Celebrity appeal effectiveness in donating to the cause: Popular Culture vs. Religious Celebrities

“…Through mass media and social media engagement, marketers use celebrities as “human brands” to create advertising attention, enhance evaluation, and produce favorable donation intentions (Chang & Lee, 2009 ; McCormick, 2016 ) surveyed the donation literature to identify external motivators for donating money and tangible assets and found celebrity endorsements to be among the most important external influences to motivate giving. Peterson et al, ( 2018 ) found that by evoking positive emotions, celebrity endorsements produce stronger donation intentions. To celebrities, the endorsement of donations to the cause is instrumental in improving their popularity, social profile, and income.…”

“…How PCC celebrity endorsement in advertising can influence how prospective contributors perceive and donate to the cause in the traditional sense has been studied by a growing body of empirical research, both in off-line contexts (e.g., Ranganathan & Henley 2008 ; Peterson et al, 2018 ) and online (Panic et al, 2016 ). After ad exposure, potential donors form emotional reactions to the ad that can be either positive, negative, or mixed and that can produce message compliance to regulate emotional outcomes.…”