Empathy impairs virtue: the influence of empathy and vulnerability on charitable giving
ISSN: 1066-2243
Article publication date: 12 April 2021
Issue publication date: 1 November 2021
Abstract
Purpose
Online charitable giving is prevalent, and how to attract individuals' attention to donate is essential for charities. Little is known about the interaction effect of empathy (donor) and vulnerability (receiver) on donate intention. To bridge this gap, this study aims to investigate whether the influence of empathy on charitable giving would be moderated by receivers' vulnerability, and if yes, what is the mechanism.
Design/methodology/approach
Five experiments were conducted in the context of charitable giving with 1,303 participants to test our hypotheses.
Findings
When empathetic individuals confronted high vulnerable receivers, they were less likely to donate; otherwise, they were more likely to donate when they confronted low vulnerable receivers, and this interaction effect was mediated by concern about self.
Originality/value
The present research identifies a novel moderator of the effect of empathy on charitable giving and elucidates the underlying mechanism of concern about self. Based on these findings, the authors provide actionable implications for charities by demonstrating the interaction effect of empathy and vulnerability on donate intention.
Keywords
Acknowledgements
Yongli Li acknowledges the support from the National Natural Science Foundation of China (No. 71771041) and from the Natural Science Foundation of Heilongjiang Province, China (No. YQ2020G003).
All authors contributed equally. Correspondence: Chuang Wei, Zhaoji Yu and Yongli Li.
Declaration of conflict of interest: None.
Citation
Wei, C., Yu, Z. and Li, Y. (2021), "Empathy impairs virtue: the influence of empathy and vulnerability on charitable giving", Internet Research, Vol. 31 No. 5, pp. 1803-1822. https://doi.org/10.1108/INTR-07-2020-0407
Publisher
:Emerald Publishing Limited
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