Helping with All Your Heart: The Effect of Cardioids Cue on Compliance to a Request for Humanitarian Aid

In: Social marketing quarterly: SMQ ; journal of the AED, Band 17, Heft 4, S. 2-11

Abstract

Some studies have shown that figurative cues, presented in the immediate environment of an individual, can affect his or her later behavior. This effect was applied in a fundraising context. In 12 bakeries, a pink opaque donation box was placed near the cash register with a message soliciting donations for a humanitarian project. The moneybox had a cardioids (heart-like) shape, a round shape, or a square shape. Results showed that more donations were found with the moneybox with the cardioids shape. The spreading activation theory is used to explain these results.