When it comes to eliciting goodwill, not just any face will do. Even in the animal kingdom, people have preferences – with noticeable consequences. Money is more likely to flow to benefit the conservation of pandas, a celebrity species, than the endangered but far less heralded carrion-scavenging American burying beetle.
The human mind appears to have definite favorites – and turnoffs. Large, forward-facing eyes; round, cherubic heads; soft skin; tufts of hair; fuzzy bodies; and a charming waddle – such baby mammal-like qualities are common to the species who inspire our care. In the world of species preservation as in the realm of crises and chronic human conditions, the difference between support and distraction may have less to do with logical, numeric demonstration of need and more to do with automatic impulses and unconscious associations.
In the oceans, seals and dolphins have the allure of marine supermodels; while the plights of plankton, cod, and sea cucumbers are largely ignored. Pandas are the rock stars of the zoological world. Even self-important Washingtonians joined lengthy queues at Washington’s National Zoo this winter for a 10-minute glimpse of panda cub Tai Shan. Meanwhile, gamboling penguins and their puff-ball chicks prevail at the box office – “March of the Penguins” has grossed $75 million.
Even causes that have nothing to do with saving a species can get a boost from deploying the right critter. In anti-tobacco campaigns, for example, health promoters would be wise to front a penguin rather than a buzzard, found Sonia A. Duffy, a specialist in health behavior with the Veterans Affairs Ann Arbor (Mich.) Health Care System. Duffy tested different cigarette warning labels with Chicago public schoolchildren, and found that a sketch of a penguin in a red jacket and black heels drew more attention than a plain label, or other cartoon critters. “The advertising industry knows that animals and babies sell,” says Duffy. “Too bad public health campaigns have not figured that out.”
Read more stories by Keith Epstein.