Donation Request (Identifiable Victim Frame)

What it measures

A four-item scale measuring the degree to which a donation request communication uses an identifiable victim appeal — presenting a single representative individual whose personal story, vivid details, and representativeness of a larger affected group are emphasised. Items capture whether the appeal focuses on a single victim, uses a representative individual, provides personal information, and delivers a vivid narrative. Developed for research on the identifiable victim effect in charitable fundraising, the scale enables researchers to verify the effectiveness of identifiable victim framing manipulations.

Representative items

• shows/uses a single victim to describe the severity of the _____.
• gives me personal information about the victim(s).
• tells a story with vivid information about the victim(s).

Citation

Van Esch, Patrick, Y. Gloria Cui, and Shailendra P. Jain (2021). Stimulating or intimidating: The effect of AI-enabled in-store communication on consumer buying. Journal of Marketing, 85(3), 287–304.