Does Sadness Sell? Understanding Emotional Appeals in Fundraising

Do sad stories lead to more donations—and does it matter who’s asking? In this episode, Dr. Shirley Y. Y. Cheng (University of the Fraser Valley) discusses her Journal of Advertising Research article, “Does Sadness Sell? The Use of Negative Emotions in Fundraising Appeals: Fundraising Strategies for For-profit and Nonprofit Organizations,” co-authored with Dr. Connie Li and Dr. Gerard P. Prendergast.

Drawing on two experiments, the authors examine how the intensity of negative emotion in fundraising appeals interacts with organizational stereotypes. The podcast dives into the study's key insight: nonprofit organizations benefit from emotionally charged messaging, while for-profit organizations can suffer backlash when using the same tactics. Dr. Cheng shares why emotional congruence and processing fluency matter—and what this means for brands pursuing cause-related marketing and corporate philanthropy. Listeners will also hear how the team designed their experiments, what surprised them, and how these findings can help marketers more effectively craft persuasive appeals.

Read the full paper here: 
https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/00218499.2025.2464288

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