The Neuromarketing reports that relaxed people are willing to pay more for goods and services than less-relaxed people, at What's Better Than an Excited Customer?:
Relaxed customers tend to focus on the abstract benefits of a product (fun family times with the new recreational vehicle) vs. hard specifications (gas mileage, length of warranty, etc.)
This may be why direct response media are such powerful ways to raise funds. They take place on the donor's turf and terms, where she can consider the abstract benefits of giving to charity in complete relaxation.
It's also probably why so many ad-agency attempts to raise funds fail with such regularity: They're trying to bring the pulse-pounding techniques of youth marketing to fundraising. (You have to wonder if they're even doing youth marketing right in the first place.)
It may also be why wonderfully energetic design -- that kind that just makes you feel up to look at -- tends not to do so well in real life fundraising.
See the study here: Relaxation Increases Monetary Valuations (PDF).
