Abstract
Online charitable donation is gradually becoming a vital channel for public welfare participation. However, existing research has yet to systematically and empirically examine how different donation forms influence users’ support intentions through underlying psychological pathways. Accordingly, this study aims to explore the mechanisms and boundary conditions of various metaphorical designs in online charitable donation platforms. Using a multifactorial between-subjects experiment in an online charitable donation system, we analyzed questionnaire responses from 405 online-recruited participants to examine the effects of metaphorical designs and the moderating roles of social level and prosocial tendency. The results indicate that different metaphor types significantly affect users’ donation motivation. Behavioral metaphors are the most effective in enhancing support intentions, while emotional motivation serves as the strongest driving factor. Finally, both social level and prosocial tendency exert significant moderating effects on the model.
Recommended Citation
Li, Manning; Wang, Lu; and Li, Xiaoying, "The Influence of Metaphors and Social Interaction Design on Users’ Support Intentions on Charitable Donation Platforms" (2026). ICEB 2026 Proceedings (Beijing, China). 109.
https://aisel.aisnet.org/iceb2026/109