The Filtered Appeal: Evaluating the Impact of Appearance Enhancement on Effectiveness of Donation Requests

This study investigates how appearance enhancement using AR video filters affects the perceptions and outcomes of an online video donation request, including the authenticity and trustworthiness of the requester. Results of a survey experiment in which the attractiveness of a male and a female actor was manipulated using filters show that perceived attractiveness and trustworthiness positively influenced donation willingness, as did previous donation experience and the demographics of the study participants. Filter use also enhanced perceptions of the quality of the request. Surprisingly, the filtered video versions were not rated as less authentic than unfiltered video. Participant gender interacted with actor gender, producing mixed findings as regards the halo effect of filtered appearance enhancement.