Facial expressions of beneficiaries and donation intentions of potential donors: Effects of the number of beneficiaries in charity advertising

To increase the donation intentions of potential donors, many charities include pictures of beneficiaries in their ads, but there have been no consistent findings on how to effectively use features such as the facial expressions of beneficiaries. This study found that there was an interaction effect between facial expressions and the number of beneficiaries that influenced donation intentions. When charity ads used sad-faced beneficiaries, displaying a single beneficiary more effectively increased donation intentions than displaying multiple beneficiaries. However, when charity ads included happy-faced beneficiaries, displaying multiple beneficiaries was more effective than displaying a single beneficiary. Furthermore, the interaction effect between facial expressions and the number of beneficiaries was mediated by the perceived efficacy of a donation. In addition, this study found that for charity ads that used happy-faced beneficiaries, the relationship between the number of beneficiaries and donation intentions presented an inverted U-shaped.