EXPRESS: The Role of Implicit Theories in Motivating Donations in Response to Threat-based Awe

Abstract

The present research investigates how charitable giving in response to threat-based awe, an emotional experience that typically accompanies disaster-relief campaigns, is likely to depend on consumers' implicit theories. While consumers want to behave prosocially when experiencing threat-based awe, due to the presence of threats, such behavior depends upon whether they believe that their donations have sufficient efficacy. Consequently, in response to threat-based awe, consumers holding to an incremental (vs. entity) theory perceive greater efficacy for their donations which, subsequently, increases their charitable giving. These predictions are tested across five experimental studies. The findings of this research contribute to the literature on implicit theories, the emotion of awe, and also offers a more nuanced approach to how different consumers may be motivated to engage in charitable giving in the context of natural disasters.