What facilitate people to do charity? The impact of brand anthropomorphism, brand familiarity and brand trust on charity support intention

Nonprofit organizations have gradually embraced the brand-oriented approach to deliver value for their stakeholders. The anthropomorphism of nonprofit brands is a promising strategy to attract more attention and support. This study attempted to examine the effects of brand anthropomorphism and other brand-related factors on charity support intention. Based on the theory of anthropomorphism and literature on the customer-brand relationship, this study proposed a research framework explaining the causal relationships between brand anthropomorphism, brand trust, brand familiarity, and charity support intention. Data from a survey of 325 respondents were analyzed using the Partial Least Squares technique. The findings revealed that brand-related factors have significant effects on behavioral intention under the context of the charity sector. Specifically, brand anthropomorphism, brand trust, and brand familiarity had significantly positive impacts on charity support intention. Moreover, brand trust and brand familiarity were found to mediate the effects of brand anthropomorphism on charity support intention. These exploratory findings provided several implications for both theory and practice.