Tailored Prosociality: The Effect of ‘You’ versus ‘We’ in Charitable Appeals on Donors with Varying Levels of Self-Esteem
(A2026-131977)

AUTHORS

Sebastian Sadowski, Radboud University Nijmegen

ABSTRACT

This research examines the impact of personal pronouns ‘you’ and ‘we’ in charitable appeals on the donations of people with varying levels of self-esteem. Two experiments reveal that pronouns ‘you’ boost donations of people high in self-esteem and pronouns ‘we’ increase donations of people low in self-esteem. These linguistic effects surface though only if relevant preconditions are met: prospective donors are positive towards the charity (Experiment 1) and they are more altruistic (Experiment 2).