The impact of evaluation modes on charitable giving: the framing effect in joint evaluation

Previous research on charitable donations have explored donors’ attitudes and behaviours in response to one type of fundraising message (separate evaluation, SE). However, people are increasingly exposed to multiple fundraising messages based on which they make giving decisions (joint evaluation, JE). This study investigates charitable decision-making in joint evaluation through three scenario-based experiments. Study 1 found that decision-making was based on category attributes in SE and numerical attributes in JE, resulting in preference reversal across evaluation modes. Study 2 and Study 3 further demonstrated that the framing of charity appeals affected donation decisions. Participants’ risk-based choices in joint evaluation are consistent with the value curve of prospect theory. Participants showed risk aversion in the positive framing, and risk preference in the negative framing. These findings enrich the research on evaluability theory together with donation under joint evaluation context and provide important insights for charities and charitable fundraisers.