Abstract
As crowdfunding success relies heavily on designing campaigns that attempt to influence potential backers within a fixed time frame, this study leverages signaling theory to explore the time-varying direct and interactive effects of rhetorical (i.e., emotional tone, cognitive tone, communal language style, and linguistic style match) and substantive (i.e., backer support) signals employed in project descriptions on funding formation. Using linguistic inquiry and word count (LIWC) and functional data analysis (FDA), we analyze data on 1245 projects from a rewards-based crowdfunding platform (Kickstarter) and demonstrate that (a) the four rhetorical signals are positively related to funding formation, (b) emotional and cognitive tone exert stronger effects in early phases of projects, whereas linguistic style match and communal language style exert stronger effects in later phases, and (c) the dynamic effects of rhetorical signals on funding formation are greater when the number of backers increases. We conclude with implications for crowdfunding research and insights for improving campaign success.
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Data Availability
The datasets are available from the corresponding author upon reasonable request.
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Acknowledgements
This paper is related to the first author’s dissertation. The authors wish to thank the editor and three anonymous reviewers for their guidance and support throughout the review process. The authors acknowledge the generous research support provided by the Texas State University and the James L. Johnson Endowment and John B. Malouf Professorship at the Texas Tech University.
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Moradi, M., Dass, M., Arnett, D. et al. The time-varying effects of rhetorical signals in crowdfunding campaigns. J. of the Acad. Mark. Sci. 52, 370–398 (2024). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11747-023-00943-5
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11747-023-00943-5