Wonder Works Wonders: The Interactive Effects of Awe and Message Appeals on Donation Intentions Toward Heritage Sites Through Self Sizes
通过两个实验，研究敬畏情绪（积极/消极）与信息诉求（渴望性/可行性）如何交互影响人们对国家公园的捐赠意愿，并揭示自我大小（小自我/扩展自我）的中介机制，为资源有限的遗产地组织优化捐赠沟通策略提供依据。
In tourism, awe—the emotional response to vast stimuli—remains unexplored. This study employs construal-level theory to investigate how awe interacts with messages to influence donation intentions toward national parks through two experiments. Study 1 reveals that combining positive awe with desirability appeals and negative awe with feasibility appeals increases donation intentions. Study 2 investigates how self-concepts (small-self and expanded-self) mediate the interaction between awe and messages. Awe triggers the small-self, evoking powerlessness, and the expanded-self, reflecting enhanced capability. Specifically, positive awe with desirability and negative awe with feasibility influence donation intentions through small-self and expanded-self, respectively. Organizations, particularly those with limited resources, can leverage these findings to enhance donor engagement. By effectively using awe, they can improve communication strategies. This study advances tourism literature by identifying conditions that optimize donation intentions and deepening understanding of awe mechanisms through distinct pathways (positive awe → small-self vs. negative awe → expanded-self).