NSPCC::Cruelty to children must stop-Full Stop

The NSPCC is a charity in the UK aiming to stop cruelty to children. This advert shows vulnerable children looking sad and helpless, dark colours and emotional music to persuade viewers to donate £2 a month to help the cause.

Dependency-Responsibility Altercast is used as the viewer is left feeling responsibility for the children shown in the advert as the children have nobody else to depend on and have had previous bad experiences.

The Dependency-Responsibility Altercast was demonstrated by Ross and Braband (1973) where subjects were left in a room alone, with a blind confederate or a confederate with sight and an emergency which could harm both the subject and confederate was staged. The subject was more likely to respond and to respond faster if they were with the blind confederate than the confederate with full sight.

Ross, A. S., & Braband, J. (1973). Effect of increased responsibility on bystander intervention: II. The cue value of a blind person. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 25, 254-258.