Conservation organizations employ charismatic species to appeal to potential donors and increase contributions. However, evidence that this strategy increases donations is mixed. In an experimental setting, we investigate the effects of species charisma and the characteristics of potential donors on donations to conservation organizations. We conducted a modified dictator game through MTurk with 330 subjects, exploring subjects’ responses to one of sixteen treatments that differ across three dimensions. The first dimension involves exposure to an image that varies among subjects in terms of charisma. In the second dimension, we use differing donation matching rates to examine the effectiveness of matching gifts. With the final dimension, we consider real versus hypothetical scenarios. Our key findings are that the effects of charismatic species on donations are limited after controlling for the characteristics of the subjects and that those faced with a hypothetical scenario donate significantly more than those with real stakes. These results suggest conservation organizations, particularly those with a national or international focus, should consider the characteristics of potential donors targeted by their fundraising campaigns rather than relying on images of charismatic species.

中文翻译：

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保护捐赠中的魅力物种、匹配和人口统计：一项实验调查


保护组织利用有魅力的物种来吸引潜在的捐助者并增加捐款。然而，这种策略增加献血的证据喜忧参半。在实验环境中，我们调查了物种魅力和潜在捐赠者特征对向保护组织捐款的影响。我们通过 MTurk 对 330 名受试者进行了一个修改后的独裁者游戏，探索了受试者对 16 种处理方式中的一种的反应，这些处理在三个维度上有所不同。第一个维度涉及暴露于不同主题的魅力不同形象。在第二个维度中，我们使用不同的捐赠匹配率来检查匹配捐赠的有效性。在最后一个维度中，我们考虑了真实场景与假设场景。我们的主要发现是，在控制了受试者的特征后，魅力物种对捐赠的影响是有限的，并且那些面临假设情景的人捐赠的人数明显多于那些有真正利害关系的人。这些结果表明，保护组织，尤其是那些以国家或国际为重点的组织，应该考虑其筹款活动所针对的潜在捐助者的特征，而不是依赖有魅力的物种的图像。