Disaster description vividness and intention to donate: The mediating role of sympathy

From the perspective of affective events theory, we examined how the vividness of a disaster description affects the public’s willingness to donate money to victims of the disaster. We conducted three experimental studies (Studies 1–3) and a survey study (Study 4), and the findings show that the vividness of a disaster description was positively related to individuals’ willingness to donate (Study 1), and that this result was maintained when participants’ affect and demographic variables were taken into consideration (Study 2). Further, sympathy mediated the effect of vivid descriptions of a disaster on the public’s intention to donate money (Studies 3 and 4). We have provided a new understanding of the relationship between the vividness of a disaster description and the public’s intention to donate money.