Testing the Identifiable Victim Effect With Both Animal and Human Victims in Anti-Littering Messages

The identifiable victim effect is when people are more willing to help identified individuals than those who are unidentified, or statistical, victims. It has primarily been tested in experiments with humans as the victims. A lack of research exists testing whether animal victims could elicit the same level of help, or reactions, as human victims. This study tests the identifiable victim effect with both human and animal stimulus messages focused on the consequences of littering. A total of 198 undergraduate students were randomly assigned to view one of three messages (i.e., an identifiable human victim message, identifiable animal victim message, or a nonvictim control message). While the animal message elicited greater distress and empathy than the human message, the three messages did not differ on behavioral intention outcomes. This study fills a gap in the identifiable victim literature, and it provides insight about responses to risk messages aimed at increasing a prosocial behavior.