Abstract:

With the development of digital technology, internet-based fundraising platforms for charitable causes have played an increasingly vital role and provided convenience for both donors and recipients. However, due to a lack of interpersonal contact and communication in the digital philanthropy context, information becomes the most important factor that shapes individuals’ donation decisions. Prior research mainly focuses on how information contentaffects donation behaviors, while insufficient attention has been paid to the role of information format in nudging donation decisions. Given this gap, we explored the impact of processing fluency on donation decisions, its underlying mechanisms, and boundary conditions in the digital philanthropy context. Based on the feelings-as-information theory and conceptual metaphor theory, we proposed that processing fluency and credibility cues interact to affect individuals’ donation decisions. Specifically, in the absence of credibility cues, processing fluency positively affects individuals’ donation intentions by enhancing their perceived credibility of the help-seeking information; in the presence of credibility cues, processing disfluency positively influences individuals’ donation intentions by increasing their perceived hardships the help seeker is suffering.

We conducted four experiments to examine our hypotheses. Experiment 1a (N = 207) and 1b (N = 103) utilized a one-way between-subjects design (processing fluency: high vs. low). The purpose of these two experiments is to test the causal link between processing fluency and donation behaviors and the mediation role of perceived credibility of information. Experiment 2a (N = 300) and 2b (N = 406) employed a 2 (processing fluency: high vs. low) by 2 (credibility cues: yes vs. no) between-subjects design. In these two experiments, we introduced credibility cues as a moderator; apart from the mediation role of perceived information credibility, we also examined the mediation effect of individuals’ perceived hardships of the help-seeker on the relationships between processing fluency and donation behaviors. To ensure validity, we manipulated processing fluency in several ways (e.g., changing text fonts and transparency), recruited participants with different cultural backgrounds from various sources (university students, people on online survey platforms such as Prolific and Credamo), used different types of donation appeals (e.g., disabled veterans or sick children), and adopted multiple outcome measures (e.g., donation intentions, donation amount, and information sharing intentions).

The key findings are as follows: (1) In the absence of credibility cues, there is a significant and positive relationship between processing fluency and donation intentions; individuals’ perceived information credibility mediates this relationship. More specifically, when the authenticity of information is not verified, people will use the fluency of information processing as a cue to infer the credibility of the information; the more fluent they perceive when processing the help-seeking information, the higher their perceived credibility of such information, and the greater their willingness to donate. (2) In the presence of credibility cues, there is a significant and negative relationship between processing fluency and donation decisions; individuals’ perceived hardship of the help-seeker mediates this relationship. To illustrate, when the authenticity of information is verified, people will use information processing fluency as a cue to infer hardships experienced by the help-seeker; the more disfluent the information processing, the greater their perceived hardships the help-seeker is suffering, and the higher individuals’ intention to donate.

Given these findings, we bridge the literature on processing fluency and individual moral behaviors. Our findings also provide practical implications for relevant stakeholders (e.g., platforms, charities, policymakers, individual help-seekers). Based on our findings, digital philanthropy platforms should consider information format beyond information content when presenting help-seeking information to stimulate individuals’ prosocial behaviors.

Key words: digital philanthropy, charitable donation, information processing fluency, information credibility, perceived hardship