My words for your pizza: An analysis of persuasive narratives in online crowdfunding

We analyze charity requests registered on the Random Acts of Pizza online community and examine the content of postings and non-content characteristics to identify features that are associated with the success of donation. We find that the presence of rational and credible appeals in a message increases the likelihood of receiving a donation, whereas the mere presence of negative emotional appeal does not do so. Our research is useful for those who like to make persuasive charity requests on online platforms.